Compensation model for network services

ABSTRACT

A compensation model is disclosed for compensating a network service provider. A networked system is also disclosed for presenting advertising during on-line interactions between a user and a service of a network (e.g., the Internet, interactive cable, and/or a LAN). Advertisements (ads) are presented to a networked user unrequestedly during user interactions with the service. The user can activate the ads (via hyperlinks) for receiving additional advertising. The system gathers user data and/or develops user profiles for selectively presenting ads, promotionals, discounts, etc. targeted to receptive users. In exchange for viewing such selective presentations, on-line access to the service is provided, the service including, e.g., (a) playing on-line interactive games (e.g., blackjack and poker), (b) providing access to the network itself (e.g., an Internet service provider), and/or (c) providing access to substantially any interactive service accessible via (b). The system can provide free/reduced cost network services to the user for viewing unrequested advertising. The system can be provided for a casino.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/707,561 filed Dec. 6, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/310,572 filed Dec. 2, 2011, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/357,623 filed Jan.22, 2009, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/167,244 filed Jul. 2, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/947,598 filed Jul. 2, 2007;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/357,623 is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/502,285filed on Feb. 11, 2000, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,496,943, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/105,401 filed Jun.26, 1998, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,366, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/759,895 filed Dec. 3, 1996, nowissued U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,879, which claims the benefit of both U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/010,361 filed Jan. 19, 1996,and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/010,703 filed Jan.26, 1996; the entire disclosure of each of the above-identifiedapplications is hereby fully incorporated by reference as part of thepresent application.

RELATED FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to method and system for providingcompensation to a network service provider via advertising and user feesfor services.

BACKGROUND

There are various techniques and strategies for providingservices/products to users via a network such as the Internet, whereinthe network nodes (e.g., websites) providing such services/productsreceive compensation by a combination of revenue streams, including:

-   -   (a) advertising, and offering free/reduced cost        services/products as enticement for visiting the network node        (i.e., and wherein such offerings are, e.g., subsidized by third        parties such as advertisers), and/or    -   (b) the sale of services/products for a profit by the entity        operating the network node.        However, in many cases, it is difficult to consistently entice        network users to repeatedly visit the network node and spend        sufficient time at the node so that the volume of user traffic        at the network node, and the demographics of the users        trafficking the network node are sufficient to attract a        substantial number of advertisers to advertise on the network        node. Accordingly, the revenue streams from (a) above may        contribute only marginally to the profitability of the entity        operating the network node.

The primary techniques or business models for enticing a large number ofrepeated user visitations to a network node (e.g., website) is toprovide an interactive informational service that large numbers of usersfind repeatedly desirable and/or necessary. Examples of such successfulbusiness models are Internet search engine sites such as Google, socialnetworking websites (e.g., www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com),various game websites, video website (e.g., www.youtube.com), and musicwebsites. However, due to the competitiveness of network nodes forenticing users virtually all entities operating commercial network nodesneed all the advantages and/or user enticements that are commerciallyfeasible to maintain profitable revenue streams. Thus, in addition toproviding free Internet searches, Google (as well as many other Internetsites) provide other free services/products such as browser toolbars,desktop search engines, notepads, pictures for computer monitorbackground screens, free games, instructional presentations (e.g.,www.digg.com) and news reports. However, it would be advantageous toprovide users with additional incentives for repeatedly visiting andexpending additional time at a particular network node, such as anInternet website, by providing the capability to win cash prizes, freeproducts or services, and/or access to products or services that arerestricted from use by other users.

For at least some entities operating network (Internet) nodes, theirbusiness models also may include receiving compensation from users,wherein such compensation can be viewed as: (i) an activation fee, (ii)a license or subscription fee to use a service for, e.g., apredetermined amount of time, (iii) a membership fee, and/or (iv) apredetermined payment from which funds are withdrawn as the service isused such as in certain Internet wagering games. Such entities and/orthe nodes they operate will be referred to hereinbelow as “user funded”nodes, sites, websites, services, entities, etc. User funded sitestypically do not provide unrequested advertising to the users fundingthe website, or will present advertisements that are deemed verybeneficial to a likely large number of the users funding the site.Accordingly, advertising revenues from such sites can be somewhatdiminished. Some network site operators have developed a hybrid businessmodel wherein some of the services at their network site are free tousers, and the users are presented various types of advertising whichmay or may not be demographically targeted to the users, whereas otherportions of the network site that are user funded and have little if anyadvertising. Thus, advertising revenue is derived from only the freeservices portion of the network site. However, it would be advantageousfor a network site operator to be able to present more advertisingand/or addition user enticements such as coupons, or reduced costservices/products to users funding the site to thereby generate, e.g.,greater advertising revenue.

In some contexts, user compensation, where the users fund the site, maybe considered illegal under the U.S. Federal Wire Act and/or other U.S.Federal Acts such as the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of2006,” (“UIGEA”). In particular, if the service provided by the networksite includes betting, wagering, or other activity wherein there is astaking or risking of something of value upon the outcome of a contestof others, a sporting event, or a game subject to chance, upon anagreement or understanding that the person or another person willreceive something of value in the event of a certain output occurring,then such U.S. laws may prohibit such services and/or user compensationtherefor. Although such U.S. laws do not appear to be currently strictlyenforced, the potential threat of enforcement is problematic. Basically,in the U.S. any service offered may be considered illegal to offer on anetwork such as the Internet if a user:

-   -   (1) provides consideration (e.g., funding, a bet or wager) for        the service,    -   (2) the service can be considered to involve risk to the        consideration provided by the user, and in particular, more risk        than user skill, and    -   (3) something of benefit can be obtained such as a prize (cash        or otherwise).        Note that for such services to which UIGEA may be problematic        (e.g., games of chance such as poker, blackjack, bingo,        lotteries, roulette, etc.), a distinguishing characteristic that        is different from games such as chess and checkers is that in        games of chance there are events in an instance of the game        wherein: (a) such events include risk for the player winning or        losing something of value (e.g., a bet or wager) with another,        and (b) the outcome of the event is not dependent solely on        objective information common to all players. For example, a        wager by a player in an online Internet chess game may not be        considered a game of chance since all events in a game of chess        are dependent solely on the objective common configuration of        the chess board at any point in the game. On the other hand, for        games such as poker, there is in any given game instance a        substantial amount of information that is not common to all        players (e.g., the unplayed cards in the card deck, and the        cards in other players' hands) which substantially impact events        during the game instance, and thereby substantially impact        whether a player wins or loses something of value. However, many        so called games of chance also include skill, and many        individuals would assert a good deal of skill. For example,        there are champion poker and blackjack players who will        consistently win substantially more credits more times than        other players, and more than mere random chance would indicate.        Thus, such champions are prime anecdotal evidence that pure        chance does not dictate outcomes of such games. In particular,        it is believed that poker and blackjack (e.g., tournament        blackjack which requires a careful analysis of each contestant's        bet as well as an analysis of the cards each contestant is most        likely to receive) require substantial skill. Alternatively,        games such as purchasing lottery tickets and bingo are believed        to require virtually no skill, and are indeed dominated by        random chance outcomes.

To avoid violating the UIGEA, network sites offering games of chancehave been forced to: (a) locate outside of the U.S., (b) wager points ortokens that have no intrinsic value, (c) play such games without thepossibility of winning a prize of monetary value, and/or (d) play suchgames without the ability to wager at all. However, each of theseoptions are undesirable, and in the case of (a) needlessly cause U.S.funds to be diverted to other countries. Moreover, none of theseappropriately address the fact that many games of chance aresubstantially games of skill and should be treated as such.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to be able to provide services(e.g., games), wherein a user skill aspect of the service is capable ofbeing measured separately from random chance events related to theservice. More particularly, when the service includes playing games ofchance that include, e.g., generally recognized aspects of skill, it isdesirable to play such games legally in the U.S., wherein prizes ofmonetary value can be won. For example, it is desirable for the skillportion of such games to be separately measured and used to award prizesto players having demonstrated a predetermined skill level.

Although Internet gaming in the U.S. is substantially done by Internetsites that are located in foreign countries (since such sites are thenless subject to U.S. Federal laws), other games and services may also besubject to such U.S. laws such as UIGEA. For example, many “pay forplay” games may be illegal under U.S. Federal law if there is anenticement to win a prize, wherein, e.g., a player pays a fixed amountupfront to play a game and wherein there is the possibility for theplayer to win a prize, e.g., a prize that is worth substantially morethan the player's pay for play entry fee. It is believed that such U.S.laws may be enforced against any service having: (a) paying users andwhere there is some degree of risk (as may be determined by a U.S.court) is involved, and (b) where there is a prize that can be wonwherein the prize is worth more than the user paid upfront. Accordingly,it would be advantageous to provide enticements to network (Internet)users when playing games having upfront payments and that involve prizeswithout violating such U.S. laws.

Referring particularly to Internet sites having free games wherein gametournaments are provided, there can be a significant problem with auser/player entering the same tournament multiple times by enteringunder a multitude of different user names and thereby significantlyincreasing his/her chances of winning the tournament (and anycorresponding prize). For example, even if distinct email addresses arerequired for each tournament player, it is relatively easy for a singleuser to obtain a plurality of email accounts. Accordingly, since aperson's email address is the method usually used by a network site todetermine whether an entrant has previously registered, multiple entriesby the same person can significantly increase his/her odds of winningthe tournament. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to inhibittournament players of, e.g., free tournaments, from easily entering suchtournaments under multiple user names, and thereby inherently reducingthe attractiveness of the tournament to other users. Moreover, since therevenue that the network site operator obtains from the tournament islikely to be from offering advertising and/or advertiserservices/products that are based upon the number of “distinct” users, itis problematic for the operator to assert with any certainty to his/heradvertisers that the advertisers' ads are being presented to asufficient number of distinct users. That is, the ability of a game siteoperator to assure that the number of players it represents to itsadvertisers is accurate and that few, if any, entrants are duplicateshas been problematic.

If and when there is a change in the law that allows on-line gambling inthe U.S., there remains the need to provide unique methods of recruitingusers to both free as well as pay for play type games. Since a “free”game is one of the ways to attract users, a combination of free and payfor play style games is believed to be attractive to users andcommercially viable for network site operators. Thus, the problemsaddressed in this disclosure will remain issues to be resolved, whateverthe state of the law.

The cost effective automation of playing certain games, like blackjack,has been difficult due to the fact that these games typically require adealer and only a relatively small number of players may play the gamewith a single dealer. However, with the popularity of local andwide-area data communication networks, it is desirable to have anautomated gaming system for games such as blackjack wherein largenumbers of players may cost-effectively and efficiently play such games.

Furthermore, it has been difficult to cost-effectively provide a networkgaming system on such networks as the Internet in that gamingrestrictions prohibit wagering and ante fees in most contexts exceptsuch situations as local area networks within a casino. However, sincemany players have an interest in playing casino-type games, it wouldalso be desirable to have a way to benefit from interests in such games.Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a system that utilized agaming context as a vehicle for delivering product and/or serviceinformation to users of a network such as the Internet. In particular,it would be desirable to have a data processing system that provided alarge number of players with the ability to substantially asynchronouslyplay casino-style games on the Internet for prizes at a reduced risk orat substantially no risk, wherein the data processing system coordinatedthe presentation of products and/or services from sponsors of the gamesso that there is a coordinated, interactive exchange of informationbetween players and sponsors regarding advertisements, samples, prizesand questionnaires related to sponsor products and/or services.

Accordingly, since the present invention, as described in the sectionshereinbelow, addresses the above-discussed problems within the contextof playing blackjack, an overview of this particular game is provided sothat the novelty and various related aspects of the present inventionmay be more fully appreciated.

Description of Blackjack:

The card game of blackjack is a game of chance played between adesignated player known as a “dealer” and one or more other players.Basically, each player plays against the dealer in the sense that eachplayer attempts to achieve a collection or hand of cards having a totalscore for the hand closer to the value 21 than the score of the hand ofthe dealer. However, if a player's card hand goes over 21, the playermay lose any wagers bet on the hand regardless of the value of the cardhand of the dealer.

In further detail, blackjack is typically played with one or morestandard playing card decks wherein each card has a value. Inparticular, each of the face cards has the value of 10, and non-facecard has a value identical to the numerical value as indicated on thecard, except for aces. That is, for aces a value may be assigned ofeither 1 or 11, depending on which value a player deems most beneficialto his/her hand.

In one conventional method for playing blackjack, at the commencement ofa blackjack hand, each player initially is provided with two cards andthe dealer also receives two cards. Typically, one of the dealer's cardsis dealt with the value of the card showing whereas the other card isdealt with the value of the card hidden. However, variations on when thedealer receives his/her cards may depend on the blackjack gaming ruleswhere blackjack is being played but, in any case, one of the dealer'scards must be face-up before the players exercise various wageringoptions beyond an initial ante.

After a player has reviewed his/her cards, the player may request one ormore additional cards in an attempt to get: (a) a value for a card handthat will be greater than the hand the dealer will have, and (b) a valuefor the card hand that is less than or equal to 21. Further, a playermay under certain circumstances, as will be described below,simultaneously play more than one hand of cards against the dealer'scards. However, in requesting such additional cards, a player runs therisk of “busting” each hand played wherein the player loses his/herwager(s) on a card hand by adding cards to the hand until a valueexceeding 21 occurs. Further note that such busting of a hand occursregardless of whether or not the dealer has a card hand value of lessthan or equal to 21.

Note that after each player has ceased to request further cards (i.e.,each player “stands” on his cards), the dealer either takes one or morefurther cards (i.e., “hits”) according to predetermined blackjack rulesas established, for example, by the gaming establishment where theblackjack game is being conducted. In general, the dealer must takeadditional cards if his/her current card count total is less than 17 andthe dealer must decline further cards if the dealer's hand has a valueof 17 or more. However, there are various rules regarding whether adealer may stand or hit when the card count total is a “soft 17.” Thatis, one of the dealer's cards is an ace (and therefore may have a valueof 1 or 11) and one of the values for the dealer's hand is 17. Forexample, the dealer may be required to take a hit on a soft 17.

Since a hit(s) taken by the dealer is performed after all players haveexercised their wagering options, the final numerical value of thedealer's hand is then compared to the final numerical value of each ofthe player's hand(s) to determine the winning and losing wagers. Notethat if the dealer's hand exceeds the value of 21, then any player thathas not busted wins the wagers for their hand(s) regardless of thehand's total value. Alternatively, if the dealer's card hand is less orequal to 21, then it is compared with each of the player's card hand(s)and in each comparison the card hand with the closest total value to 21without exceeding 21 wins. Of course, ties are possible. In such cases(called a “push”), the player's wager(s) on his/her card hand arereturned.

It is typical in blackjack to have at least three additional playeroptions depending on the circumstances of play. A first such option isknown as “doubling down” wherein if the player's first two cards have avalue within a predetermined range (e.g., 10 or 11), then the player maydouble his or her wager and once dealt a single additional card, thetotal of the three card hand becomes the value for the player's hand.Alternatively, another option is that of “splitting pairs” wherein ifthe player's first two cards are identical with the exception of suit(i.e., a pair), then the pair may be split so that two card hands arecreated with one card of the pair in each hand. Thus, the player mustwager on each of the hands at least the initial wagering or ante amount.Subsequently, a second card and any subsequent successive cards aredealt to each of the separate hands as the player requests and theresults of both hands are compared to the dealer's hand, assumingneither the dealer nor either of the player's two hands busts.

In a third option, played immediately after each player has been dealttheir first two cards and the dealer has been dealt at least a firstcard, a player may request “insurance” under the circumstances where thedealer's single face-up card is an ace. In this circumstance, the playeris betting that the dealer has blackjack (i.e., a card value total of21). If the dealer does not have blackjack, then the insurance bet isforfeited and the player plays his/her blackjack hand as if theinsurance bet were never made. Note that the player can typically wageran insurance bet of one-half of the amount of his/her initial blackjackwager or ante and if the dealer has blackjack, then the dealer (or thegaming establishment) pays the player double or triple his/her insurancebet.

Further note that options for splitting pairs and doubling down mayinteract with one another according to certain pre-established gamingestablishment rules wherein, for example, a player may double down onone or more of his/her split hands.

Additionally, there are blackjack tournaments having tournament entrantsthat compete against each other for tournament prizes. In suchtournaments each entrant has a fixed initial number of points that canbe wagered in a pre-established number of tournament blackjack games tobe played. Accordingly, the player having the highest number of pointsat the end of the tournament wins the tournament. Note that in suchtournaments, there may be specific guidelines established at thebeginning of the tournament for varying the blackjack gaming rulesbetween tournament games. For example, rules may vary on when a playermay split pairs repeatedly during the same blackjack game. Also, doubledown rules may vary so that, for example, after a splitting of pairs, aplayer may be allowed to double down on any two cards or, alternatively,an additional wager of less than the initial wager may be acceptablewhen a player requests to double down.

However, in all known variations of blackjack, players are only allowedto enter a blackjack game at the completion of a previous game and,further, there is a relatively small number of players that can playblackjack at a dealer's station simultaneously. Accordingly, it isdesirable to provide a system for playing blackjack wherein potentiallya very larger number of players can play blackjack simultaneously from asingle dealer station and wherein players can commence playing blackjackat their own discretion without waiting for a previous blackjack game tocomplete.

The advantages identified hereinabove are provided by the disclosurehereinbelow.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a novel collection of businesstechniques or business models (also referred to as a “compensationmodel” herein) for addressing the problems, and attaining theadvantages, outlined in the Background section hereinabove. Inparticular, the present disclosure describes a method and system forreceiving compensation for network (e.g., Internet) services, whereinsuch services may require users to pay or fund a first service (e.g., a“user funded” service as described in Background section hereinabove),and regardless of what elements of risk (if any) are involved inperforming or participating in the user-funded service, such users maybecome eligible to legally win a prize of, e.g., monetary valueassociated with an instance of a service (this service referred toherein as a “prize-winning service”) once one or more proficiencycriteria in the user-funded service is demonstrated. Moreover, thepresent disclosure directed to utilizing the user-funded service whetheror not the prize-winning service is available. In particular, theuser-funded service may be configured so that a user's funds are onlyretained (or charged to the user) by the user-funded service when theuser fails to satisfy a predetermined criteria related to the service.For example, if the service includes the playing of games, then theuser-funded service may only retain/charge the user when the user doesnot play a minimum number of games, a minimum amount of time,demonstrate a minimum indication of game proficiency (e.g., accumulate aminimum number of game points, beat one or more other players—possiblyrobot players, place sufficiently high in a game tournament, etc.).However, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that otherservices, instead of games, may be provided for the user-funded serviceand/or a related prize-winning service. For example, such a service maybe an Internet search engine, or an instructional video site wherein auser is only charged for using the service if, e.g., the user does notaccess the service sufficiently frequently during a particular timeperiod, or does not interact with the service in a particular by the endof a particular time period (e.g., the user does not contribute to anappropriate product evaluation, does not contribute an appropriateinstructional video, does not contribute appropriate assistance to otherusers, and/or does not contribute appropriate music recommendations,etc.), then the user is charged a fee for accessing the service, and/ora previously paid user fee is refunded.

Regarding, the prize-winning service, such a service may be operated bythe same service as the user-funded service, or each such service may beoperated by separate operators, wherein user participation in aninstance of the prize-winning service may be free to the user havingestablished a proficiency/eligibility in the user-funded service.Additionally, since the users competing for prizes (in instances of theprize-winning service) are known, e.g., via credit/debit card networktransactions when paying for the user-funded service, the presentcompensation model introduces a greater measure of integrity or fairnessinto user competition in that restrictions on a user participating,e.g., under aliases, to thereby favorably skew odds in his/her favor ofwinning can be enforced.

In a first collection of embodiments of the present compensation modelfor receiving an opportunity to win prizes, each of a plurality of usersare required to provide an initial activation fee or deposit to access aservice (a user-funded service herein, and which may be, e.g., a game orcontest). Subsequently, each of the users can obtain a refund of his/heractivation fee or deposit if and when the user, e.g., achieves a certainor predetermined level of proficiency (i.e., skill) related to theuser-funded service. That is, after reaching such a level ofproficiency, the user's activation fee or deposit is returned to theuser. In one embodiment, exactly the user's activation fee or deposit isreturned, no more and no less. Note that if more than the user'sactivation fee or deposit were returned, then the excess amount might belegally considered as a prize in certain circumstances, and thusproblematic in the context of, e.g., U.S. gaming laws. Moreover, therepaying of an amount that is less than the user activation fee ordeposit may also be problematic in that the ability for the user toactivate additional services (e.g., a “prize-winning service”), whereinprizes of monetary value can be won, may be considered as a service thatthe user has also paid for as well.

In this first collection of embodiments, once the user has attained acertain level of proficiency or skill in a particular user-fundedservice, and the user's fee or deposit has been returned, the user maybe then eligible to win one or more prizes of monetary value related tosubsequent instance of the prize-winning service without paying anyfurther fees or deposits. Accordingly, claims that there has beencompensation (consideration) paid to the network site operator forwinning a prize of monetary are believed (at least in some instances) tobe avoided. Thus, the initial activation fee or deposit may be properlyconsidered as a fee or deposit for the user gaining expertise with theuser-funded service (or, e.g., similar services), and such considerationfrom the user to the site operator is not at risk for winning a prizesince such consideration was used for a service for which no prizes of amonetary value were offered, and user's fee or deposit is entirelyrefunded when the user reaches an appropriate level of proficiency orskill.

In another embodiment of the present compensation model, users providenothing of value initially to participate in the user-funded service.Instead, a user(s) enters into an agreement with the operator of theuser-funded service, wherein the user(s) agrees that, e.g., after agiven amount of time (such as a week, six weeks, or six months), if theuser does not satisfy certain service related criteria (e.g., one ormore proficiency criteria), then (and only then) will the user becharged for using the service. Accordingly, the user may be required toprovide credit card information when registering to access theuser-funded service. However, no expense is incurred by the user unlessthe agreed to one or more service related criteria are not satisfied.Note that such service related criteria may be that the user agrees,e.g., to access the service at a given frequency (e.g., once a day), toaccess the service for a given number of hours per week, to sponsor atleast one new service user per month, etc.

In some embodiments of the compensation model (including some of thefirst collection described above), users having reached a predeterminedproficiency level (or satisfies certain service related criteria) maypick and choose which from among a plurality of instances of aprize-winning service (which may be an instance of the user-fundedservice or another service) that are provided at different times, or atdifferent geographical (or network) locations.Alternatively/additionally, such users may be able to select from amongadditional instances of the prize-winning services, wherein suchinstances are offered at substantially the same time. Thus, a userhaving reached a particular proficiency level (or satisfied certainservice related criteria) in a user-funded service may enter an instanceof a free prize-winning service for winning prizes immediately afterdemonstrating his/her proficiency (or satisfying certain service relatedcriteria), or the user may elect to participate in such a prize-winningservice for winning prizes at a later date.

In some embodiments of the compensation model (including some of thefirst collection described above), users may activate or use theuser-funded service as much as they desire (e.g., play as many games asthey desire), and/or take as long as they desire (e.g., within areasonable amount of time, e.g., six months or a year) to demonstratethat they have reached an appropriate skill or proficiency level forqualifying to participate in a corresponding instance of a prize-winningservice wherein there is an opportunity to win prizes without the usersrisking anything of value (e.g., money). In some embodiments, users maybe required to demonstrate their proficiency (or satisfying certainservice related criteria) within, e.g., a predetermined time, and at theend of the predetermined time all users will have their activation feesor deposits refunded. However, only those users satisfying thepredetermined proficiency levels will be eligible to enter theadditional instances of the prize-winning service(s) for winning prizes.

In some embodiments of the compensation model (including some of thefirst collection described above), a user may circumvent activating theuser-funded service for demonstrating his/her proficiency or skill byproviding alternative evidence that the user has the desired proficiencyor skill to participate in the free prize-winning service(s) that canresult in the user winning a prize(s) of monetary value. In particular,a user may show his/her proficiency or skill by presenting evidence ofsuch proficiency in ways other than providing the activation fee ordeposit and participating in the user-funded service. In particular, ina gaming context (e.g., game of chance also having an element of skill),a user may provide evidence that he/she is proficient by identifying,e.g., a casino or other establishment (or network site) along with datethat the user demonstrated an appropriate level of proficiency in theuser-funded service. For example, if the user-funded service is the gameof scrabble, and a user is able to verify that he/she has won a wellknown scrabble contest, and/or has a National Scrabble Associationrating above a particular value, then the user may be consideredsufficiently proficient for participating in a corresponding freeprize-winning service such as a scrabble contest or, e.g., another wordrelated competition. In one embodiment, such a user may be required toprovide a deposit for participating in the prize-winning service, and ifthe user wins a prize then the user may have to provide his/her evidenceof proficiency before receiving the prize. Accordingly, if the evidencecannot be verified, then his/her deposit is forfeited. In oneembodiment, when the user-funded service is a game of chance, a user mayassert that he/she has won, e.g., certain amount of money, a tournamentfor the game of chance, or won a certain number of games at a particularcasino or during a particular time period as a way of demonstratinghis/her proficiency at the user-funded service. Moreover, the networksite operator may contract with one or more casinos (online orotherwise) so that both the casino and the operator's site eachadvertise one another's gaming services so that players consideredproficient at such a casino may be automatically considered proficienton the operator's network site. In addition, when the user-fundedservice is (or includes) a game, a user may attain the predeterminedlevel of proficiency by playing against a software program (e.g., arobot) that is programmed to play at at least a desired predeterminedproficiency level.

In a second collection of embodiments, the present compensation modelrequests users to provide an activation fee or deposit for using auser-funded service, and once all users have used the user-fundedservice as intended (e.g., played the required number of games within apredetermined time period), all users have their activation fees ordeposits returned them, and additionally those users demonstrating themost skill (e.g., by winning the most games) are also provided withprizes in addition to receiving their refunds. Note that a fundamentaldifference between the first and second collections of embodiments isthat in the first collection of embodiments, the site operator has theopportunity to at least recover some of his/her expenses for enhancingthe skills or proficiency of the users since it is likely that not alluser's will reach the predetermined proficiency level. However, ineither the first or second collection of embodiments, the upfrontfunding (and/or providing credit card information for potentiallycharging) for accessing the user-funded service is likely to deter auser from duplicatively registering a large number of times and therebyskewing the odds in the user's favor of winning a prize. In particular,since each such registration may be by credit/debit card, duplicateregistrations in a user-funded service (for eventually participating inan instance of a prize-winning service) may be inhibited to a greatextent by preventing registration (and payment of the activation fee ordeposit) from each user whose name is identical (or substantially so) toanother registered user at, e.g., a same geographical (or network)address as provided by the credit card information.

In one embodiment, the user-funded service and/or the prize-winningservice referred to hereinabove may be an online Internet game servicewherein the game(s) may be poker, chess, checkers, monopoly, hearts,spades, euchre, canasta, blackjack, scrabble, video games (e.g., wargames), racing games (e.g., auto racing games), trivia games, Internetsearch games and/or investment games (e.g., stock market investmentcompetitions). More generally, such Internet games and/or contests maybe single player games (e.g., where a user plays against a network siteor house), multi-player games (e.g., multi-player Internetvideo/simulation games, or games based on geographical locations ofplayers), games that include an element of chance (e.g., casino cardgames), board games, and/or mystery solving games.

In one embodiment, the level of proficiency may be one or more of:obtaining a predetermined number of points (e.g., chips in one or morepoker games), winning a certain number of game instances (e.g., winninga predetermined number of scrabble games), winning more games thananother user (e.g., winning the most hearts games in a heartstournament), obtaining a predetermined number of points from winninggames against other players of a particular skill level (e.g., winningchess games against chess players having an Elo rating system above aparticular rating), and/or beating a predetermined number of playershaving a particular proficiency or skill level.

In another embodiment, the user-funded service and/or the prize-winningservice referred to hereinabove may allow users to compete in thecreation of designs such as: landscape designs, auto designs, housedesigns, etc. In another embodiment, the user-funded service and/or theprize-winning service may allow users to compete in the creation ofmusical compositions, user produced videos, etc., wherein the level ofproficiency is determined by, e.g., a predetermined group of judges forjudging user entries. In one embodiment, the predetermined group ofjudges may be the users themselves who have paid the activation fee ordeposit. For example, if the user-funded service includes a design orart competition, then each user may register by agreeing to providecredit card information which may be charged in the event that theuser's design/art is eliminated from the competition, and not charged inthe event that the user's design/art is not eliminated. Moreover, user'swhose design/art is not eliminated may then be eligible to enter a freecontest (design, art, or otherwise) wherein one or more contestants maywin prizes of substantial value.

In one embodiment, the user-funded service may be provided by a thirdparty network site. For example, if a third party website provides aservice for which a proficiency level can be determined, then once theusers pay a fee (or agree to potentially paying a fee) to the operatorof the site providing the present compensation model (for determining,monitoring and/or verifying that users performed the service to aparticular proficiency level on the third party network site), the usersreaching the particular proficiency level (on the third party networksite) then would be allowed to win prizes in free instances of aprize-winning service. Moreover, the prize-winning service may also beprovided by a third party site or a site owned or controlled by theoperator of the site providing the present compensation model. Thus, anoperator for a network site providing an embodiment of the compensationmodel need not actually provide the user-funded service or theprize-winning service. Accordingly, the operator of the compensationmodel provides a brokering service for the user-funded services and theprize-winning services.

In one embodiment, the activation fee referred to hereinabove may beconsidered as a deposit, wherein such a user's deposit is forfeited ifthe user does not reach the predetermined level of proficiency (orsatisfies certain service related criteria), e.g., within apredetermined time limit, within a predetermined amount of serviceactivation (e.g., a number of games played, or a number musicalcompositions submitted), or the like.

In one embodiment, the determination of proficiency (or satisfaction ofcertain service related criteria) for the user-funded service may beassessed by the amount of time a user has spent interacting with theuser-funded service. For example, regardless of whether a user has met aproficiency level (or satisfaction of certain service related criteria)according to any other measurement, the user may be assumed to have asufficient proficiency if the user has interacted with the user-fundedservice, e.g., a predetermined amount of time, a predetermined numberservice sessions, and/or a predetermined number instances of the service(e.g., games played). Where the user-funded service includes a game, auser may be deemed to have reached the predetermined proficiency levelif the user has won a predetermined number of instances of the game, orplaced above a certain portion of the users in a ranking of the users,or won a predetermined percentage of the games played once at least acertain number of game instances have been played, or played apredetermined (likely much larger) number of games, or played apredetermined amount of time. Moreover, for each different level ofproficiency demonstrated (assuming, e.g., there are multiple levels ofproficiency monitored), the user may be allowed to activate aprize-winning service for winning prizes associated with the level ofproficiency demonstrated.

In one embodiment, there may be more than one proficiency level forusers to attain. Thus, when a first proficiency level is obtained, auser may opt to receive his/her activation fee or deposit, and thenparticipate in a corresponding instance of a prize-winning service.Alternatively, the user may instead opt to proceed to a second level ofproficiency, and upon reaching such a second level, opt for receivinghis/her activation fee or deposit (or at least the equivalent inproducts or services), and then participate in a corresponding instanceof a prize-winning service for winning a more substantial prize. In oneembodiment, a first portion of a user's activation fee or deposit may berefunded at a first proficiency level, and an additional portion may berefunded at an additional proficiency level. Thus, users may be paid toenhance their skills (or satisfy certain service related criteria).

In one embodiment, the present compensation model may be used inproviding a network service (user-funded service and/or theprize-winning service), wherein the users registering for the servicemay become voting members for determining the proficiency level forother registered users. For example, the user-funded service (orinstance thereof) may be a graphic design contest, wherein eachregistered user can enter up to three designs, and each member isallowed to vote once for no more than 10 designs not submitted by themember. Accordingly, the members whose graphic designs are voted to haveobtained the predetermined proficiency level, would have theiractivation fee or deposit returned, and then be eligible to participatein, e.g., a free contest for winning a prize (the free contest may beanother graphic design contest). Note that the proficiency level for thepresent embodiment may be, e.g., receiving a predetermined percentage ofthe votes (e.g., 5%), or receiving at least a predetermined number ofvotes, or receiving enough votes to be one of a predetermined number oftop vote obtainers (e.g., the designs gathering the 100 highest numbersof votes).

Moreover, as discussed further hereinbelow, an important aspect of atleast some embodiments of the compensation model is the fairness of acontest associated with the user-funded service and/or the prize-winningservice. For example, assuming names and addresses of users paying theactivation fee or deposit is checked against other users that previouslypaid the activation fee or deposit for duplicates, such a procedure canbe used to prevent a user from registering a large number of times andthereby distort the user's chances of attaining a particular proficiencylevel and/or subsequently winning a prize. In particular, requiring anactivation fee or deposit can substantially reduce a user receiving anunfair advantage since when each user pays for each registration, andthe mechanism for such payment via a network (Internet) transactionrequires the user to identify him/herself via, e.g., a credit card or adebit card. Additional/alternative, identification may be by a cellphone or other phone number that is acquired by the network site,wherein such additional information may used to verify a user'sidentity.

In another embodiment, the user's activation fee or deposit may bedesignated as a gift to a charity. Thus, the site operator may notreceive any compensation from the user-funded service.

In at least some embodiments of the compensation model, network siteoperators may receive compensation for either or both of the user-fundedservice and/or the prize-winning service from advertisers whoseadvertisements are presented to users during their participation in aninstance(s) of the user-funded service and/or the prize-winning service.In one embodiment, advertisers for the user funded and/or prize-winningservice instances may sponsor one or more users to participate in theuser funded and/or prize-winning service. For example, a well knownpoker player, or an especially proficient poker player, may be sponsoredby an advertiser to play in a free poker tournament for winning prizes,and each poker hand won by a user from the well known poker player(wherein, e.g., the well known player does not fold) may contribute tothe user winning a prize that is above and beyond merely winning thepoker hand. Additionally/alternatively, an advertiser may sponsor auser, e.g., based on proficiency information of the users, wherein theuser's potential charges in the user-funded service are paid (ifnecessary) by an advertiser selected by the user. In one embodiment,instead of (or in addition to) paying an activation fee or deposit, auser may select one or more advertisers from which to receiveadvertising and/or from which not to receive advertising. In the casewhere a user does not pay the activation fee or deposit, e.g., when itis paid by an advertiser or sponsor, the user may win prizes in the socalled user-funded service, and there need not be a separateprize-winning service instance. For example, a beverage company mightsponsor a prize of free beverages for a year in an instance of aprize-winning service, and the beverage company may provide the majorityof the ads presented during one or both of the user-funded serviceand/or the prize-winning service instances. However, note that it maystill be advantageous for users to pay an activation fee or deposit (orat least providing card/debit card information) in order to reduce thepossibility of a user receiving unfair advantage in winning prizes asdiscussed hereinabove. Advertisers may provide prizes throughout thegame as well as provide a prize to the ultimate winner(s).

In one embodiment, a game of skill is combined with a game of risk sothat the combination creates a new game requiring an entrant to useskill to be recognized as a winner.

In one embodiment the users may choose the advertiser(s) or theadvertising area of interest that they desire to view. The ability of aplayer to recall information in the advertising presented during thecontest may be used to determine the winner.

In one embodiment, there may be a combination of a charitablecontribution and a deposit or payment that is for a predeterminedpurpose e.g., paying for an item of information or the ability to cast avote.

In one embodiment, an organization for which the user is a member mayprovide a deposit for a user-funded service to assist the user inattaining a higher proficiency level, e.g., a dating serviceorganization may provide its members with the opportunity to learn andexhibit their proficiency in email etiquette via an instance of auser-funded service.

In one embodiment, the present compensation model can be used forproviding more integrity to Internet chat rooms since users would berequired to pay an activation fee or deposit which may be returned tothe user after, e.g., there are fewer than a predetermined number ofcomplaints about the user.

The present disclosure further includes a computerized interactiveadvertising system (i.e., method and apparatus) for exchanginginformation regarding goods and/or services between a first populationof users (hereinafter also known as “players” or “users”) and a secondpopulation of users (hereinafter also known as “sponsors” or“advertisers”). In particular, the sponsors or advertisers may presentinformation related to goods and/or services to the players using thepresent invention and the players may view this information while, forexample, interacting with the present invention for playing a game suchas blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, pai gow or the like. Moreover, aplayer may also interact with the present invention so that the playerhas the capability for responding to sponsor or advertiser presentedquestionnaires, as well as for purchasing or viewing sponsor goodsand/or services. Thus, the present invention provides an informationexchange service within a gaming context for enticing players to viewand/or interact with sponsor presentations such as interactiveadvertisements.

It is also an aspect of the present disclosure that each player or useris presented with advertisements for products and/or services, whereinit is believed the player will be receptive to the advertisement. Thatis, the present interactive advertising system selectively presentsadvertisements to each player, according to stored characteristics andpreferences of the player that the present interactive advertisingsystem has determined from, for example, player supplied personalinformation, player responses to questions, and/or analysis of playerinteractions such as player requests for additional information relatedan advertisement. Thus, such a selective presentation of advertisementsallows a sponsor or advertiser to provide information related torelatively extensive or expensive promotionals (e.g., demonstrations,samples, discounts, trial subscriptions, prizes, bonuses) to playersmost likely to subsequently purchase the advertised product or service.Consequently, such selectivity can greatly increase the costeffectiveness of advertising, wherein the term, advertising (oradvertising presentation), as used herein is understood to include notonly product or service presentations that are merely informational, butalso more interactive advertising presentations such as promotionalswherein discounts, free samples or a trial usage may be offered.

Moreover, it is an aspect of the present interactive advertising systemthat each player may interact with and play a game at a time and pace(i.e., tempo) substantially of the player's choosing. In particular, theplayer is not bound by a required order or sequence of play involvingother players, even though the player may be in competition with otherplayers. In fact, a player may cease play for an extended time while inthe midst of a game and subsequently continue the game at the pointwhere the player ceased to play. Thus, if the present interactiveadvertising system is easily accessible, then players may interact withthe present interactive advertising system at their leisure.

Accordingly, in a related aspect of the present disclosure, it isintended that players (more generally, users) are able to interact withthe present invention remotely, as for example, via the Internet and/oran interactive cable television network. Thus, using an Internetembodiment as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a gamingweb site may be provided wherein players may access the interactivegaming capabilities of the present invention and substantiallysimultaneously also be presented with sponsor or advertiser providedinformation related to goods and/or services of the sponsor oradvertiser (those two terms being used substantially interchangeably todenote e.g., those who provide advertising to users and/or subsidizegame playing, product promotionals or network access). Moreover, thesponsor provided information may include, for example, hypertext links(also denoted hyperlinks) that allow players to activate, for example,network transfers for obtaining additional information regarding asponsor's goods and/or services regardless of the status of any game inwhich a player may be currently involved at the gaming web site.

It is a further aspect in one embodiment of the present invention that aplayer is able to commence play of a game at substantially any time theplayer accesses the present invention. That is, it is not necessary forany previous game being played by other players to be completed for theplayer to commence play. In other words, games provided by the presentinvention may be continuously and asynchronously commenced or entered byplayers.

It is a further aspect of the present invention to require each playerto use a distinct identification provided when the player “registers”with the present invention before playing any games so that a networksite for the invention may be able to identify each player. Accordingly,it is an aspect of the present invention during registration, that eachplayer provides personal information about him/herself both for gamingidentification and for use as selection criteria by sponsors oradvertisers for presenting particular presentations. For example, in thecase of an Internet embodiment of the present invention, suchregistering can be performed via the Internet prior to play of any gamesat a gaming/advertising web site. Thus, players may be required toprovide the present invention with information about themselves such asname, address, E-mail address, age, sex, and/or other playercharacteristics deemed pertinent to one or more sponsors or advertisers.Accordingly, the present invention provides a sponsor or advertiser withthe capability to target its presentations substantially only to playersor users having selected characteristics as, for example, determinedfrom player information provided when registering with a network sitefor the present invention.

It is a further aspect of the present invention to have players competeagainst one another for prizes in one or more gaming tournaments. Usingthe Internet embodiment of the present invention as illustrative, agaming/advertising web site for the present invention may partition thepopulation of players into competitive groups wherein each groupincludes the players for a distinct tournament. Moreover, the presentinvention may determine a competitive group according to criteria suchas: (a) the game(s) to be played in the tournament; (b) a skill levelfor the players (e.g., as determined by play in a previoustournament(s)); (c) particular player characteristics such as age, areaof residence, home ownership, etc.; (d) particular player lifestyletraits such as traits exhibited by exercise enthusiasts or cruise shipenthusiasts; and (e) particular player preferences such as preferencesrelated to jewelry, personal care products or particular sports.

It is a further aspect of the present invention to allow players to playgames offered by the present invention without incurring financial riskor charges beyond those that are typical for the network being used inaccessing the present invention.

It is a particular aspect of the present invention to provide blackjackand other casino-style games such as craps, roulette, poker, pai gow, orvariations thereof, wherein such games may be played by a plurality ofplayers continuously and asynchronously, and wherein each game is likelyto be unique from all other games being played concurrently.Furthermore, in a related aspect of the present invention, such gamesmay be automated so as to not require a manual dealer. Also, the presentinvention may be played, in one embodiment, in a gaming establishment(e.g., casino) using low cost gaming stations at which players may playsuch games entirely electronically. Alternatively, in anotherembodiment, the present invention may be used to play such casino stylegames as blackjack on the Internet. In this later embodiment, ablackjack game controller for the present invention communicates withblackjack players at Internet client nodes via a web site from which theblackjack game controller is accessed. Thus, blackjack players may playblackjack in the privacy of their own homes and at their leisure sincethe present invention does not require that a particular tempo of ablackjack game be maintained.

Additionally, the present invention utilizes novel varieties in suchgames, as blackjack, that make the games more enjoyable for users. Forexample, using variations of blackjack as illustrative, in one novelembodiment wherein the dealer functions are automated by a dealermodule, this module can play blackjack with a plurality of playersconcurrently such that each player appears to be playing exclusivelywith the dealer module (e.g., “head-to-head”). Moreover, in oneblackjack embodiment, each blackjack game is played asynchronously fromother concurrent blackjack games with the dealer module. Furthermore,the dealer module may play a different dealer card hand with eachplayer. In particular, the initial one (or two) cards (or cardrepresentations) dealt to the dealer for each game are unlikely to bethe same for any two blackjack games being player with the dealermodule; i.e., the probability of any two concurrently played blackjackgames being identical is substantially equal to chance. Accordingly,this variation is particularly worthwhile when players are playingremotely through a network such as the Internet. Alternatively, in adifferent blackjack variation, the dealer module and each playerconcurrently playing blackjack with the dealer module may be providedwith cards (or card representations) from the beginning of an identicalsequence of card representations. Thus, each concurrently playing playerreceives an identical initial card hand and the dealer is also dealt anidentical initial card hand. Subsequently, the card hands within eachconcurrent game will vary only if players request further cardsdifferently. Accordingly, this variation of blackjack is particularlyuseful in tournament blackjack played within the confines of a casino,wherein the play of each player in the tournament is synchronized tostart and stop within a predetermined interval. Note that this variationof blackjack is enjoyed by tournament players in that the tournamentplayers may consider it a better or fairer way for demonstratingblackjack playing skill.

Additional features and benefits of the present disclosure are providedhereinbelow. The present SUMMARY section is not intended to provide acomprehensive description of the novel aspects provided herein. Theclaims provided hereinbelow are intended to define the novel featuresfor patent protection. Moreover, to the extent that one of ordinaryskill in the art can modify and/or combine various aspects of thepresent disclosure, such modifications and/or combinations are withinthe scope of the present disclosure from which patent protection can besought. Accordingly, any operable novel combination of the embodimentsof the user-funded service (and its operation), the prize-winningservice (and its operation), and the compensation model (and itsoperation) disclosed herein may be recited in the claims hereinbelow.

Other features and benefits of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description with the accompanying figurescontained hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present inventionwherein this embodiment may be used within a blackjack gamingestablishment such as a casino;

FIG. 2 provides a representation of the gaming stations 18 of FIG. 1wherein these gaming stations are used in gaming establishments forplaying blackjack;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention wherein the present invention is used to play blackjack on theInternet;

FIGS. 4A-4E represent a flowchart for the processing performed by theblackjack game controller 14 when processing blackjack requests fromplayers in either of the embodiments of FIG. 1 or FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 provides a simple example of the operation of the presentinvention for playing a novel variation of blackjack wherein fourblackjack games are shown being played asynchronously with the blackjackgame controller;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a block diagram of an Internet embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating how a user navigates through web pagesof the World Wide Web for accessing the game/advertisement web site 308(FIG. 6) functionality; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B are an alternative embodiment of the game/advertisementweb site 308. In particular, FIGS. 8A and 8B is a block diagram of analternative embodiment of the present invention wherein an advertisementsending daemon (i.e., TCP/IP daemon ad sender on the host computer 308)and an advertisement receiving daemon 806 (on the client end usermachine 318) communicate for periodically displaying advertisements andother announcements to a user on the end user machine 318; and

FIG. 9 shows a high level diagram of one embodiment of the compensationmodel which is accessible to users of the Internet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a block diagram is presented of a first embodiment of anelectronic system 10 for the present invention for playing blackjack,wherein data flows are represented by solid arrows and control flows arerepresented by dashed arrows. In particular, the embodiment of FIG. 1presents an architecture for the present invention for use on, forexample, a local network within a casino, wherein low cost gamingstations may be utilized. Accordingly, the blackjack gaming system 10includes a blackjack game controller 14 electronically connected to oneor more potentially remote gaming stations 18 so that for each gamingstation a player may play blackjack. In the blackjack gaming system 10,the blackjack game controller 14 functions substantially as a dealerwould in a manually operated blackjack game and each gaming station 18provides a blackjack player with an electronic representation of ablackjack game wherein it may appear that the player (i.e., user) at thegaming station 18 is the only player playing against the dealer (i.e.,“head-to-head” against the blackjack game controller 14). Accordingly,each gaming station 18, as will be discussed with reference to FIG. 2below, includes a display for displaying both the dealer's cards and theplayer's cards. Each gaming station 18 also includes player interactioncapabilities for requesting additional cards, activating variousblackjack player options at appropriate times, and potentiallyincreasing various wagers at predetermined phases of a blackjack game.Further note that each gaming station 18, when in operation, may requesta security code be provided by a player for identifying himself/herselfor, alternatively, the gaming station may request the player to insertan electronic card (not shown) into the gaming station 18 so thatinformation electronically encoded upon the card is read at the gamingstation and transferred to the blackjack controller 14.

Referring now to the internal structure of the blackjack game controller14, a gaming station interface 22 is provided for interfacing with eachof the gaming stations 18. In particular, the gaming station interface22 buffers data signals between the other components included within theblackjack game controller 14 and the gaming stations 18. For example,the gaming station interface 22 may have speed matching buffers in orderto adjust for differences in speed between the blackjack game controller14 and the gaming stations 18. A blackjack driver 26 exchanges data withthe gaming station interface 22. The blackjack driver 26 substantiallycoordinates the operation of the blackjack game controller 14. Inparticular, the following capabilities are substantially provided by theblackjack driver 26:

-   -   (1.1) identifies each player requesting to play blackjack at one        of the gaming stations 18;    -   (1.2) creates internal data structures for communication with        other modules of the blackjack game controller 14 regarding each        blackjack game being played; in particular, blackjack gaming        data objects or records are (re)instantiated with each player        request, such data objects providing sufficient information for        the blackjack game controller 14 to properly respond to each        received player request;    -   (1.3) determines the output of the blackjack game controller 14        to each of the active gaming stations 18;    -   (1.4) distributes blackjack gaming data between other modules of        the blackjack game controller 14; and    -   (1.5) provides card representations to gaming stations 18.

In performing the above tasks, the blackjack driver 26 communicates witha blackjack player registration and playing status database 28. Thedatabase system 28 maintains in persistent storage information regardingeach blackjack player. In particular, the database system 28 maintains:

-   -   (2.1) information identifying each player; e.g., a unique player        identification code;    -   (2.2) information regarding, for example, each blackjack        player's financial status; in particular, a credit limit and a        current amount of funds (either to be paid or received from the        player);    -   (2.3) for each person registered to play blackjack, information        regarding the status or context of any game the player is        presently playing; that is, sufficient information is stored so        that the blackjack game controller 14 can retrieve this        information and continue a blackjack game in response to        receiving a player's request;    -   (2.4) for each person registered to play blackjack, information        regarding any blackjack tournament that the player is playing;        in particular, since such a tournament typically requires a        tournament player to complete a specified number of blackjack        games in a predetermined amount of time and/or to complete a        specified number of blackjack games out of a total number of        blackjack games, the following types of information may be        stored: (a) information relating to the number of blackjack        games completed by the player; (b) information related to the        time and/or the number of games remaining in the tournament;        and (c) information related to the amount of funds or points in        the player's account for the tournament.

The blackjack driver 26 communicates with a wager accounting module 30wherein the wager accounting module provides the following capabilities:

-   -   (3.1) determines various wagering limit parameters for the next        one or more blackjack games to be played (e.g., the wagering        limit per game and the total wagering limit per player); and    -   (3.2) performs wagering accounting for each player's wins and        losses.        Thus, the wager accounting module 30 is instrumental in        initializing a new blackjack game in that this module receives        and maintains financial information related to each currently        active player at a gaming station 18. Thus, the wager accounting        module 30 has a communication data channel with the blackjack        player registration and playing status database 28 so that the        wager accounting module 30 may retrieve information for        determining whether the player has, for example, sufficient        financial resources to cover potential wagering losses. Of        course, to provide waging evaluation information to other        controller 14 modules, the wager accounting module 30 receives        identifying information from each such module requesting an        evaluation.

The blackjack driver 26 also communicates with a blackjack playerevaluator 34. The blackjack player evaluator 34 receives, from eachplayer (via instantiations of blackjack gaming data objects from theblackjack driver 26), all blackjack player requests except the data fromeach player indicating an amount to be wagered. Thus, the blackjackplayer evaluator 34:

-   -   (4.1) determines each player's options during blackjack games;        and    -   (4.2) responds to player requests for hits or to, for example,        split pairs.        Thus, the blackjack player evaluator 34 enforces the gaming        establishment rules related to player options during a blackjack        game. Note, however, that in responding to certain player        requests, the blackjack player evaluator 34 communicates with        the wager accounting module 30 to confirm that a proper wager        accompanies the requested option and that the wager is        acceptable to the wager accounting module 30.

The blackjack player evaluator 34 is supplied with data corresponding toblackjack card representations from a card generator module 38. The cardgenerator module 38 generates for example, an ordered collection orsequence of substantially random card representations and each such cardrepresentation is provided to the blackjack player evaluator 34, whereinthe blackjack player evaluator responds to each player's valid hitrequest by outputting the most recent card representation received fromthe card generator module 38. That is, each player at a gaming station18 receives a card representation according to when the player's requestis received by the blackjack player evaluator 34.

Further, note that the card generator module 38 also supplies the samecard representations as supplied to the blackjack player evaluator 34 toa house blackjack playing module 42, wherein this latter module playsthe dealer's hand in each blackjack game. Thus, the house blackjackplaying module 42 enforces the blackjack gaming rules on behalf of thegaming establishment. In particular, this module determines when and howinsurance bets can be made related to the dealer's cards. Note, as withthe blackjack player evaluator 34, the house blackjack playing module 42outputs, when required to provide the dealer's hand with another cardrepresentation at a gaming station 18, the most recent cardrepresentation received from the card generator module 38. Further notethat the house blackjack playing module 42 provides control informationto the blackjack driver 26, particularly regarding activation of theblackjack insurance option. This information, in turn, is conveyed tothe blackjack player evaluator 34 so that this latter evaluator mayactivate the insurance option for each player at an active gamingstation 18.

A blackjack hand evaluator 46 is also in communication with theblackjack driver 26. The blackjack hand evaluator 46 evaluates eachplayer's hand(s) in comparison to the dealer's blackjack hand fordetermining the win/loss/tie for each player's hand. Thus, the dealer'shand and the one or more hands played by each player at a gaming station18 is supplied to the blackjack hand evaluator 46. Subsequently, thisevaluator outputs win/loss/tie results to the gaming stations 18 via theblackjack driver 26 and the gaming station interface 22. Further, theblackjack hand evaluator 46 also outputs win/loss/tie results along withthe identity of the player playing each hand to the wager accountingmodule 30 so that wager credits and debits for each player's account maybe updated according to the last or most recent blackjack game results.

In FIG. 2, an embodiment of a gaming station 18 is illustrated. Thegaming station 18 includes a player input area 204 wherein a player maypress touch-sensitive portions of a thin film laminated with blackjackplayer operations and requests. Immediately above the player input areais a player output display area 208 for displaying blackjack gaminginformation related to the player. Optionally, each gaming station 18may include a player identification card reader 216 so that a blackjackplayer may identify him/herself at a gaming station 18 by swiping amagnetic identification portion of a player identification card (notshown) through the card slot 220 thereby allowing the card reader 216 totransmit the player's encoded identification upon his/her card to theblackjack game controller 14. However, it should be noted that otherconfigurations of the gaming station 18 are also contemplated by thepresent invention. In particular, gaming station 18 may not have a cardreader 216. Instead, a blackjack player may be required to registereither manually or automatically at a site remote from the gamingstation 18, or, alternatively personal identification numbers may beprovided to players for identifying themselves via the player input area204 wherein, for example, a numeric digit provided in the lower bottomportion of some of the touch-sensitive areas may be used by the playerto input a personal identification number. Further, the arrangement ofthe touch-sensitive portions of the player input area 204 and the formatof the display area 208 (both being discussed in detail below) may haveother arrangements and still be within the scope of the presentinvention.

Describing in detail now the touch-sensitive portions of the playerinput area 204, an activate/enter next game button 220 is provided. Thisbutton is used to initially activate the gaming station 18 so that a“request to play” signal is transmitted to the blackjack driver 26. Thatis, assuming a player activates this button at a gaming station 18, theblackjack driver 26 responds by requesting that the player input his/heridentification via, for example, placing an identification card in thecard reader 216 and/or a personal identification number via the playerinput area 204. Additionally, note that the button 220 may be pressed atthe end of a blackjack game for indicating that the player wishes toplay another blackjack game. Note that in one embodiment of the presentinvention when consecutive games are played by a player, the player needonly press the button 220 to commence a new game. That is, the player'sidentification need not be entered for each consecutive game played(assuming the button 220 is activated within a predetermined time afterthe last game has terminated).

The player input area 204 also includes a quit button 224 that a playermay press to explicitly indicate the player's desire to terminate anyfurther gaming at the gaming station 18.

Additionally, buttons 228 through 248 provide the player with thecapabilities to request the following blackjack gaming requests:

-   -   (5.1) The “HIT” button 228 allows the player to request another        card to be dealt to him/her.    -   (5.2) The “STND” button 232 allows the player to stand on a        current blackjack hand.    -   (5.3) The “DBL” button 236 allows the player to double down        under appropriate circumstances as determined by the blackjack        player evaluator 34.    -   (5.4) The “SPLIT” button 240 allows the player to split the        player's first two cards into two separate blackjack hands when        these first two cards are identical.    -   (5.5) The “INS” button 244 allows the player to request        insurance under the circumstances where the dealer's single        face-up card is an ace.    -   (5.6) The “BET” button 248 allows the player to request that a        bet or wager be entered during a blackjack game.

Note that subsequent to requesting a bet via the “BET” button 248, thebuttons 252 through 264 are activated so that the player may inputvarious betting amounts. In particular, buttons 252 through 264 providethe player with the option to bet $5.00 (button 252), $25.00 (button256), $100.00 (button 260) and $500.00 (button 264). Moreover, asequence of the buttons 252 through 264 may be pressed for obtaining abet not provided by a single button. For example, to bet $130.00, theplayer presses consecutively each of the buttons 252, 256 and 260 (inany order) exactly once.

The player input area 204 also includes various confirm and cancelbuttons 268 through 276. The accept button 268 allows the user to accepta last input. For example, it is an aspect in the present embodiment ofthe invention that after each user input, the input is accepted eitherby the player explicitly pressing the accept button 268 or by allowing apredetermined amount of time to expire after the last player input. The“CANCEL BET” button 272 allows the user to cancel an immediatelypreceding bet that was input. However, note that if a time limit isexceeded for placing a bet due to, for example, the player pressing the“CANCEL” button 272, then any minimum bet required will be automaticallywagered on the player's behalf by the wager accounting module 30.Further, the “CANCEL LAST” button 276 may be used by the player tocancel the immediately preceding wager of one of the dollar amountbuttons 252 through 264. Thus, if a player intended to bet $125.00 bypressing first the button 260 followed by the button 256 but insteadpressed the button sequence 260 and 264, then the player may press thebutton 276 for cancelling the $500.00 bet associated with button 264 andsubsequently the player presses the button 256 to obtain the desired betof $125.00. Note further that pressing the “CANCEL LAST” button twice insuccession also cancels the entire bet.

A “SPEED OF PLAY” button 280 may be optionally provided on the playerinput area 204. This button allows the player to specify to theblackjack driver 26, for example, the predetermined amount of time aftera player input to wait before each subsequent input is automaticallyaccepted. In one embodiment of the present invention, the “SPEED OFPLAY” button 280 includes active areas at each end of the button,wherein if the user presses the “slower” end of the button 280, then thepredetermined time(s) for automatically accepting a player input islengthened. Alternatively, if the player presses the “faster” end of thebutton 280, then the predetermined default acceptance time(s) becomesshorter. However, it is important to note that the tempo of theblackjack game is, using the present invention, no longer as importantas in typical blackjack gaming situations. That is, since each blackjackplayer using the present invention is not playing in sequence with otherplayers, there is less concern about speedily playing so as not to delayother players.

Lastly, the player input area 204 includes a “HELP” button 284 forallowing the player to request assistance from, for example, thepersonnel of the gaming establishment providing the gaming station 18.

Referring now to display area 208, the screen display provided here isbut one of a number of contemplated screen layouts for the presentinvention. In particular, the screen layout illustrated in display area208 is a representative layout for use in playing tournament blackjack.Thus, when other modes of blackjack are played other than tournamentblackjack, then it is within the scope of the present invention tomodify the fields represented in the display area 208 according to theplayer needs for the type of blackjack being played. Further, it isimportant to note that in one embodiment, the display 208 is in color sothat, for example, diamonds and hearts are in red and spades and clubsare in black, and various fields of the display area 208 may behighlighted for focusing a player's attention on the portion of thedisplay providing information most relevant to the player's currentlypermissible options.

Describing now the fields currently presented in display 208, at the topof the display is the house hand area 288: (a) for providing arepresentation of the cards that have been dealt to the house; (b) forproviding a status of the house hand (i.e. one of: “STND” for standing,“BUSTED”, when the value of the house hand exceeds 21, and “CONTINUING”when the house may take additional hits. That is, this field provides anannotation “house hand:” followed by a representation for at least onecard that has been dealt to the house; i.e., an ace of hearts. In theplayer's hand area 292 of the display area 208, there are five columnsproviding information related to each blackjack hand the player iscurrently playing in the blackjack game. The columns provide thefollowing information:

-   -   (6.1) The “PLAYER HAND(S)” column provides, in each row of this        column, a different blackjack hand that is being played        simultaneously by the player in the current blackjack game.        Thus, two blackjack hands are presently represented as being        played simultaneously by the player on the display area 208.        That is, an upper or first hand having a three of spades, king        of hearts, and a five of spades, and, a lower or second        blackjack hand having a three of clubs and an eight of diamonds.        (Note, when a player chooses to double down, card        representations in common between two blackjack hands may be        displayed in a row between the remaining card representations        for both hands. Alternatively, card representations in common        between blackjack hands may be duplicated in the blackjack hands        to which the common cards representations apply.)    -   (6.2) A “STATUS” column for indicating the current status of        each blackjack hand the player is playing. That is, for the        first or upper hand that the player currently is playing the        status is “STND” thereby indicating that the player has elected        to stand on this hand. Alternatively, for the second or lower        hand a status of “PICK OPTION” is provided thereby indicating        that it is the player's turn to pick a blackjack playing option        for this hand. Note that there are at least three possible        values for the status field of each blackjack hand being played.        That is, in addition to the two represented in FIG. 2, a        “BUSTED” status value is output for indicating that the value of        the related blackjack hand has exceeded 21.    -   (6.3) The “OPTIONS” column provides, for each blackjack hand        being played, an indication of the permissible blackjack plays        that the player currently may select from for the related        blackjack hand in the same row. Thus, for the first hand        illustrated in area 292, there are no options remaining for the        player to play related to this hand. However, on the second        hand, four permissible player inputs are displayed as options to        the player. That is, the player may stand on the related hand        (STND) by pressing button 232, the player may request a hit        (HIT) by pressing button 228, the player may double down (DBL)        by pressing button 236 and the player may bet an additional        wager by pressing button 248 and subsequently putting a bet        amount using buttons 252 through 264.    -   (6.4) The “LAST BET” column displays to the player his/her last        bet for each blackjack hand the player is currently playing. In        particular, for both the upper and lower hands shown in area        292, the player's last bet was $50.00.    -   (6.5) The “TOTAL BET” column displays to the player the total        bet the player has wagered on the blackjack hand to which it        relates. For example, in FIG. 2, in both the upper and lower        player's blackjack hands displayed, the player has bet al. total        of $200.00.

Below the player hand area 292 is the player information area 296wherein additional blackjack gaming information relating to the playeris displayed. In particular, labeled line 300 displays the most recentbet amount that the player has requested along with a tag indicating thestatus (e.g., “ACCEPT/CANCEL”) of the most recent bet. Note that thestatus may be: (a) “ACCEPTED” for explicitly or implicitly indicatingthe acceptance of a displayed wager (via the player pressing the acceptbutton 268 or by default due to a time limit expiring); (b) “CANCELLED”for explicitly indicating the cancellation of the last entered wager(via the player pressing either of the cancel buttons 272 or 276); (c)“REJECTED”, this status being displayed due to the wager accountingmodule 30 rejecting the player's most recent bet; and (d)“ACCEPT/CANCEL” for indicating that the present invention is waiting apredetermined amount of time for the player to explicitly accept orcancel the most recent bet. Thus, in the example of line 300 in FIG. 2,the player has indicated a most recent bet of $30.00 and the blackjackdriver 26 has output a status of “ACCEPT/CANCEL” as in (d) above.Further note that the blackjack hand(s) to which this most recent betapplies may be designated in any of a number of ways such as, forexample, highlighting the row(s) in the player hand area 292 of theblackjack hand(s) to which the most recent bet of line 300 applies.Alternately, an indicator such as arrows 302 may be used as in FIG. 2 toindicate to the player that the most recent bet is to be applied to boththe upper and lower blackjack hand(s).

Additionally, note that line 304 displays the annotation “INSURANCEBET:” together with any insurance amount that has been bet by theplayer. Accordingly, the dollar amount on line 304 and the notation atthe right end of the line pertain, respectively, to the amount that hasbeen bet as insurance, and the status of this bet (i.e., one of“ACCEPTED”, “CANCELLED”, “REJECTED” or “ACCEPT/CANCEL” as in line 300).

In line 312 of the player information area 296, the total amount offunds available by the player for betting is displayed. For example,line 312 of FIG. 2 indicates that the player has a total amount forbetting of $1,000.00. Note that the wager accounting module 30 maintainsthis total amount available for betting and updates it after eachblackjack game.

The lower three lines 320, 324 and 328 of the player information area296 provide blackjack player information that is particularly usefulwhen playing in a blackjack tournament. Thus, the information in thesethree lines may not be displayed when the present invention is used byplayers not in a tournament. In line 320, two fields are provided fordisplaying playing time information. The leftmost field, annotated bythe label “ELAPSED PLAYING TIME:”, displays the total amount of time theplayer has played blackjack (which in this case is 45 minutes).Alternatively, the rightmost field, annotated by the label “REMAININGPLAYING TIME:”, displays the time remaining in the tournament.

In line 324 an identifier for any tournament associated with the presentblackjack game is displayed.

In line 328, up to two additional fields are provided that are useful intournament blackjack. The leftmost field having an annotation of “GAMESPLAYED:” displays to the player the number of blackjack games he/she hascompleted within a tournament. Note that in some blackjack tournamentseach player is required to complete a certain predetermined number ofgames within a predetermined allotted time period. For example, ablackjack tournament may require each player to play 50 games within apredetermined interval (such as four days). Relatedly, but optionally,in blackjack gaming contexts where the total number of blackjack gamesin the tournament is meaningful, the rightmost field of line 328, havingthe annotation “GAME NUMBER:”, displays to the player the total numberof tournament games that have been completed thus far in the tournament.Accordingly, using at least the leftmost annotated field in line 328 and“REMAINING PLAYING TIME:” annotated field of line 320, the player isable to determine the number of remaining games in the tournament thathe/she must play.

Further note that other blackjack game values are contemplated by thepresent invention. For example, a field providing the number of gamesremaining that a player must play in the tournament may be added (orsubstituted for) in addition to the current values in the playerinformation area 296.

In a next display 208 lower area, denoted the rules area 336, blackjackhouse rules are displayed. In particular, the house rules displayed inarea 336 allow variations upon the typical blackjack rules that a playeris likely to assume if not presented with information to the contrary.Note that by providing these additional rules on the display of gamingstations 18, successive blackjack games may be provided with differenthouse blackjack rules thereby creating an increased interest in eachgame by the players and requiring additional blackjack playing skillsfrom the players. Note that three house rules are provided in thepresent display area 336. That is, (a) insurance for the presentblackjack game pays 3 to 1 odds (instead of the typical 2 to 1 odds);(b) the player may double down after splitting only once; and (c) theminimum bet is $25.00 for the current game.

Lastly, the display 208 includes a player identification area 342 foridentifying the player currently playing blackjack at the gaming station18. The present player area 342, includes a field having the currentplayer's name (e.g., I. R. SMITH). However, other fields identifying theplayer are also contemplated by the present invention including, forexample, a player identification number such as the number that may beencoded upon a player identification card used in conjunction with thecard reader 216 for identifying the player.

FIG. 3 presents a second embodiment of the blackjack gaming system ofthe present invention. In this embodiment, the blackjack game controller14 is substantially the same as described hereinabove. However, thiscontroller 14 is now accessible through an Internet web site 308 so thatblackjack players at Internet client nodes 318 can play blackjack on theblackjack game controller 14 via the Internet 324 (or more particularly,via the World Wide Web).

Accordingly, describing the web site 308 in more detail, it includes anInternet interface 332 for receiving and supplying communicationsbetween the Internet 324 and the remainder of the web site 308. TheInternet interface 332, in turn, communicates with World Wide Web server340: (a) for validating and/or initiating registration of web site users(e.g., blackjack players) at web site 308; and (b) for interpretingInternet requests for routing and/or activating web site 308 modulesthat can fulfill such requests. Thus, the World Wide Web server 340 mayaccess the database system 28 for determining the registration identityof, for example, a blackjack player. Additionally, upon receiving userregistration confirmation regarding an Internet (e.g., World Wide Web)request, the World Wide Web server 340 activates instantiations ofmodules known as common gateway interface (CGI) scripts, each CGI script348 instantiation (or, for simplicity, each such instantiation alsobeing referred to as a CGI script 348) being: (a) for interpreting andprocessing Internet requests according to the semantics of a web site308 application associated with the CGI script; and (b) for constructingInternet responses from output from the associated application. Thus,there are one or more common gateway interface modules provided whereineach CGI script 348 (instantiation) invokes the blackjack gamecontroller 14 to process a single Internet blackjack request from anInternet client node 318 where a player is playing blackjack, andsubsequently the CGI script 348 constructs an appropriate Internetresponse from the output received from the blackjack game controller 14.

Since the embodiment of the blackjack game controller 14 of FIG. 3 issubstantially identical to that of FIG. 1, a description of its internalstructure is not repeated here. However, it is worthwhile to note thatthe embodiment of FIG. 3 is particularly appropriate when the blackjackgame controller 14 executes on a different or remote processor from thatof, for instance, the processor performing the CGI script(s) 348.Further, note that if the blackjack game controller 14 executes on thesame processor as the other web site 308 modules of FIG. 3, then thecommunication interface 22 may be unnecessary, and additionally, much ofthe functionality of the other components of the blackjack gamecontroller 14 may be incorporated into one or more CGI scripts 348.Thus, for example, the blackjack player evaluator 34 functionality maybe incorporated into one CGI script 348 while house blackjack playingmodule 42 functionality may be incorporated into another CGI script.

There are also noteworthy distinctions between the gaming stations 18 ofFIGS. 1 and 2 and the Internet client nodes 318 of FIG. 3 as well asdistinctions in blackjack play interactions. For example, the followingdistinctions may be provided:

-   -   (7.1) Due to the potentially lengthy delays that occur on the        Internet, the embodiment of FIG. 3 does not provide for        automatic acceptance of a blackjack play (e.g., acceptance of an        input bet or a default to a minimum ante) due to a time period        expiring. Thus, the speed of play is determined by the        responsiveness of each player and the responsiveness of the        Internet.    -   (7.2) Players may play blackjack in tournaments against one        another on the Internet wherein, for each tournament entered by        a player, he/she receives, without cost, a predetermined number        of points to use for playing in the tournament. Note that prizes        may be awarded to tournament winners as incentive to play in        such blackjack tournaments. Further note that the time period to        complete a tournament may be substantially more lengthy than the        time periods for typical blackjack tournament play. For example,        a tournament may extend for 90 days since players can play at        their leisure.    -   (7.3) The input keys of gaming station 18 of FIG. 1 may be also        presented on the display screens of Internet client nodes 318        wherein the input buttons of gaming station 18 now become active        buttons on a blackjack web page generated by the web site 308        and presented to a player at an Internet client node 318.        However, note that at least the speed of play key 280 is not        necessary, as mentioned in reference to the embodiment of FIGS.        1 and 2 since the speed of play is of diminished importance.    -   (7.4) There may be other types of information output to an        Internet client node 318 in addition to the information        displayed in FIG. 3. In particular, advertising information may        be provided with each web site 308 response to a player        regarding, for example, blackjack tournament sponsors and        prizes.

In FIGS. 4A-4E, a flowchart is presented of the high level stepsperformed by the blackjack game controller 14 when processing playerrequests in either of the embodiments of FIG. 1 or 3 for playing a novelblackjack variation wherein new eligible card representations aregenerated periodically regardless of whether they are dealt in ablackjack game or not and wherein the blackjack players may play thegame asynchronously from one another. In step 408, the blackjack gamecontroller 14 is initialized so that it may process blackjack playerrequests and output appropriate responses to each player's request.Subsequently, in step 416, the card generator module 38 commences tooutput at regular intervals (e.g., less than two seconds such as every0.5 seconds) random card representations to both the blackjack playerevaluator 34 and the house blackjack playing module 42. Thus, for aslong as the blackjack game controller 14 is properly responding toblackjack player requests, the card generator module 38 continuously andregularly outputs card representations. Concomitantly with the actionsin step 416, the remaining steps of FIGS. 4A-4E are performed. Thus, instep 424, the controller 14 waits for a (next) blackjack player input,such inputs being, for example, requests to enter a new blackjacktournament, requests to commence a new blackjack game within atournament, requests to process a blackjack game play request, a requestfor information regarding the players account, and a request for helpinformation (such as how to play blackjack).

Upon receiving a blackjack player request, in step 430 the communicationinterface 22 queues the request and subsequently transmits the requestto the blackjack driver 26. In step 436, a determination is made as towhether the players request is related to a current blackjack gameand/or current blackjack tournament. If not, then step 448 isencountered wherein an additional determination is made as to whetherthe player's request is to enter a new blackjack tournament. If so, thenin step 454 the blackjack driver 26 determines a blackjack tournamentand enters the player into the tournament. Note that in providing thisfunction, the blackjack player 26 communicates with the wager accountingmodule 30 to confirm that the player is eligible to enter a newtournament. Thus, the blackjack driver 26 supplies the wager accountingmodule 30 with at least the player's identification and a specificationof the tournament in which the player may be entered. Note that thetournament selection may be provided by the player in some embodimentsof the present invention. Alternatively, the blackjack driver 26 mayselect a tournament for the player using tournament information storedin the database system 28. Assuming that the wager accounting module 30responds with a confirmation that the player may be entered into theselected tournament, in step 458, the blackjack driver 26 creates aconfirmation record identifying the blackjack tournament in which theplayer is entered. Subsequently, in step 462 the blackjack driver 26outputs information in the confirmation record to the player at his/herInternet client node 318 (gaming station 18). Thus, in the embodiment ofFIG. 3 of the present invention, the output of step 462 (and allsubsequent such outputs to a blackjack player) are output from theblackjack driver 26 to the communication interface 22 for queuing untilthe output can be transmitted to the CGI script 348 that initiated theplayer request to which this output is a response. Subsequently, theoutput is transmitted to the World Wide Web server 340 and to theInternet interface 332 for transmitting on the Internet 324 and therebybeing routed to the Internet client node 318 where the player is playingblackjack.

Following step 462, in step 466, the blackjack driver 26 enters, intothe database system 28, information indicating the blackjack tournamentin which the player has been entered. Note that the information enteredhere into the database system 28 is subsequently accessible both by theblackjack driver 26 and the wager accounting module 30 for determiningthe tournament(s) in which the player has been entered. Following thisstep, since the player's request has been processed, the flow of controlloops back to step 424 to wait for the next player input from a playerat an Internet client node 318 or alternatively a gaming station 18.

Returning now to step 448, if the player has not requested to enter ablackjack tournament then step 470 is encountered to process anymiscellaneous blackjack player requests not related to a currentblackjack game and/or blackjack tournament. For example, a player mayrequest accounting information related to his/her blackjack gamingaccount. Assuming such requests are processed and responded to in thisstep, the flow of control again returns to step 424 to wait for a nextplayer input.

Returning now to step 436, if the player request is related to a currentblackjack and/or blackjack tournament, then step 476 is encounteredwherein the blackjack driver 426 uses the player's identification (ID)provided with the request for retrieving any status information from thedatabase system 28 regarding any current blackjack game and/or blackjacktournament in which the player may be currently involved. Subsequently,in step 480, a determination is made as to whether the player request isto commence a new blackjack game in a current tournament. If so, then instep 484 the blackjack driver 26 requests confirmation from the wageraccounting module 30 that the player can commence with a new blackjackgame in the current tournament. That is, the wager accounting module 30determines whether the player has sufficient tournament credits tocontinue in the tournament. Following this, in step 488, the blackjackdriver 26 determines whether a confirmation has been received from thewager accounting module 30. If no such confirmation is provided, then instep 492, the blackjack driver 26 outputs a message to the player athis/her Internet client node 318 (gaming station 18) indicating that nofurther blackjack games in the current tournament may be played by theplayer.

Alternatively, if in step 488 the blackjack driver 26 receivesconfirmation from the wager accounting module 30, then in step 494 theblackjack driver 26 creates a blackjack game record for fulfilling theplayer's request. Note that in creating the new blackjack game datarecord, the blackjack driver 26 communicates with the wager accountingmodule 30 to both debit the player's account for any initial antecorresponding to commencing the new blackjack game and also to output tothe blackjack driver 26 data of this transaction for subsequentlyoutputting to the player. Following this step, in step 496, theblackjack driver 26 requests the blackjack player evaluator 34 toprovide an initial blackjack game configuration for the new blackjackgame. Subsequently, in step 500, the blackjack player evaluator 34responds with an initial blackjack game configuration, wherein thisconfiguration includes the initial card representation for the player'shand (as shown, for example, in area 292 of FIG. 2). Note that thisinitial card representation is the most recent card representationprovided to the blackjack player evaluator 34 by the card generatormodule 38. Thus, note that if two player requests to commence a newblackjack game were transmitted to the blackjack driver 26 in rapidsuccession, then step 500 may be performed for each of the requestsbefore the dealer module 38 outputs a new random card representation tothe blackjack player evaluator 34. Consequently, in such a case bothplayers will be presented with an identical initial card representationfor the player's hand. Subsequently, in step 504, the blackjack driver26 stores information regarding the identity and initial configurationof the new blackjack game for the player in the database system 28. Inparticular, a blackjack game identifier for the new game is stored andassociated with the identity of the blackjack player and the tournamentto which the game is associated. Following step 500, in step 504, theblackjack driver 26 stores information regarding the new blackjack gamefor the player in the database system 28. In particular, the followinginformation is stored regarding the initial configuration of the newblackjack game: the player's identity, the identity of the tournamentfor which the new game corresponds, and identifier identifying the newgame, and an initial configuration for the new blackjack game includingcard representations and any initial required bets. Further, note thatthroughout the course of each blackjack game played by a player, theblackjack driver 26 and the wager accounting module 30 updateinformation in the database system 28 as the game configuration changesdue to interactions between the player and the blackjack game controller14. Thus, for a blackjack game underway, each request from a player forcontinuing the game with a next play, need not provide the entire gameconfiguration to the blackjack game controller 14. Instead, onlysufficient information is required in the request for the blackjackdriver 26 and/or the wager accounting module 30 to retrieve informationrelated to the blackjack game configuration corresponding to theplayer's request. Following step 504, in step 508, the blackjack driver26 outputs an initial blackjack game configuration for the new game tothe player at his/her Internet client node 318 (gaming station 18).Subsequently, the flow of control once again returns to step 424 toawait a next player input to the controller 14.

Returning now to step 480, if it is determined here that the playerrequest is not to commence a new blackjack game in a current tournament,then step 520 is encountered wherein a determination is made as towhether the player request is related to a play in a currently activeblackjack game. If not, then in step 524 the blackjack game controller14 processes miscellaneous requests such as, for example, a request forspecial blackjack rules relating to a current game and/or tournament,the number of players remaining in the current tournament, the player'sranking in the current tournament, and the prizes for winners of thecurrent tournament. Subsequently, assuming such miscellaneous requestsare responded to, in step 524, the flow of control for the presentflowchart returns to 424 to await a next player input.

Alternatively, if in step 520 the player request is related to a play ina currently active blackjack game, then in step 528 a furtherdetermination is made as to whether the player request is for a new cardrepresentation. If so, then in step 532, a determination is made as towhether the card request is for the house or for the player. If the cardrequest is from the house, then in step 536 the blackjack driver 26communicates with the house blackjack playing module 42 for obtaining anew blackjack game configuration for the current blackjack game, whereinthe new game configuration includes the most recently output cardrepresentation from the card generator module 38 as the next cardrepresentation in the house hand for the blackjack game from which thecurrent player's request came. Subsequently, in step 542 the houseblackjack playing module 42 outputs blackjack game configurationinformation indicating the new house hand card representation and anyplayer response(s) that the player may exercise in responding to the newblackjack game configuration.

Upon receiving the house blackjack playing module 42 output, in step546, the blackjack driver 26 determines whether there is a furtherplayer response in the present game by invoking one or both of theblackjack player evaluator 34 and the blackjack hand evaluator 46. Ifthere are additional possible player responses, then in step 550 theblackjack driver 26 outputs a blackjack game configuration to the playerat his/her Internet client node 318 (gaming station 18) so that theplayer may exercise one of his/her available game options. Subsequently,having processed the player's request the flow of control again loopsback to step 424 to await a next player input. Alternatively, if in step546 the blackjack driver 26 determines that there are no furtherpossible player responses, then the current blackjack game is completeand the blackjack driver 26 in step 556 activates the blackjack handevaluator 46 for evaluating the blackjack game hands so that theblackjack hand evaluator can activate the wager accounting module 30 toupdate the player's account (according to the results of the blackjackgame) in the database system 28. Following this step, in step 560 thewager accounting module 30 outputs to the blackjack driver 26 updatedaccounting information to be provided to the player. In step 564, theblackjack driver 26 outputs the results of the blackjack game and theplayers updated account information to the player. Also, note that theblackjack driver 26 updates the database system 28 regarding thecompletion of the present blackjack game as well as any further statusinformation related to the player and the tournament to which thepresent blackjack game is associated. Subsequently, having processed theplayer's request, the flow of control again loops back to step 424 toawait a next player input.

Alternatively, if in step 532 it is determined that the player's requestis for a new card representation for the player, then in step 568 theblackjack driver 26 activates the blackjack player evaluator 34 forobtaining a new blackjack game configuration for the current blackjackgame, wherein the new game configuration includes the most recentlyoutput card representation from the card generator module 38 as the nextcard representation for the player's hand(s). Subsequently, in step 572the blackjack player evaluator 34 determines the next blackjack playoptions the player may exercise for the present game and then outputsthe new blackjack configuration with these options to the blackjackdriver 26. Following this, the steps 546 and subsequent steps areperformed as described above.

Returning now to step 528, if the player request is not for a new cardrepresentation then step 576 is encountered wherein the blackjack gamecontroller 14 processes other blackjack player game requests such asrequests for additional bets, cancellations of bets, a request to standon a particular player hand, a request to split a pair of cardrepresentations, or a request for insurance. Assuming, that suchrequests as described above are processed, in step 580 the blackjackdriver 26 subsequently outputs a new blackjack game configuration to theplayer according to the processing performed in step 576. Also, notethat the blackjack driver 26 updates the database system 28 withinformation relating to the new blackjack game configuration so that itmay be retrieved upon a subsequent player request relating to thepresent game. Following this step, the flow of control for the presentflowchart loops back to step 424 to again wait for another player input.

FIG. 5 presents a simple example of the operation of the presentinvention for playing blackjack wherein four blackjack games are shownbeing played asynchronously with the blackjack game controller 14. Todescribe FIG. 5 in detail, note first that the row of numbers 604 acrossthe top of the figure represents a sequence of values of successive cardrepresentations output by the card generator module 38. That is, in afirst time interval a card representation having a value of three isoutput, in a second time interval a card representation having a valueof five is output, in a third time interval a card representation havinga value of seven is output and so on across the row. Below row 604 areblackjack game rows 606, wherein each blackjack game row 606 representsa series of events that occur in each blackjack game 610 through 626over the course of time corresponding to the series of card values 604.In particular, the numerical entries within each blackjack game row 606correspond to the values of the player and house card hands asadditional cards are added to the player and house hands of eachblackjack game. For example, referring to blackjack game row 610,assuming this blackjack game commences with the player's hand obtainingthe card representation for the leftmost card value of the sequence 604(i.e. the value three), the player's hand has a corresponding value ofthree. Subsequently, if the house blackjack playing module 42 isactivated for this game to output (i.e. deal) an initial cardrepresentation to the house during the second time interval (i.e. thecard generator module 38 has output a card representation of five), thenthe house hand initially has a value of five. Subsequently, if in thethird interval the player for blackjack game 610 provides a request foranother card, then the card representation corresponding to the value ofseven in sequence 604 is provided to the player and therefore theplayer's hand has a total value of ten. Following the incorporation ofthe seven into the player's hand, this blackjack game is delayed so thatthe next time interval corresponding to the value of two in sequence 604is not dealt to either the player or the house in blackjack game 610.Note that it is an important aspect of the present invention that cardrepresentations generated by the card generator module 38 are onlyincorporated into a particular blackjack game when a request for such acard representation is made during the time the card representation isthe most recent output from the card generator module 38. Thus, one ormore card representations output by the card generator module 38 duringa blackjack game may not be used in the game. More precisely, it istypical (although not shown in the example of FIG. 5) that substantiallyany length or subsequence of consecutive card representations output bythe card generator module 38 may be ignored within a given blackjackgame due to time delays occurring in the game. Thus, in somecircumstances such delays could be as long as a number of days if theplayer, for example, did not request another hit during such a timeinterval.

Continuing now with the remaining plays of blackjack game 610, note thatin the fifth time interval the player requests a hit thereby obtaining acard representation having a value of nine and thus obtaining a player'shand value of nineteen. Subsequently, the house takes hits for the nexttwo consecutive card representations having values eight and tenrespectively. Thus, the house hand busted when the value of twenty-threewas obtained for the house hand.

Blackjack game rows 606 for blackjack games 614 through 626 may beinterpreted similarly to the description above for blackjack game 610.Note however that each of these games commence at a different timeinterval in that each game commences with a different cardrepresentation taken as the first hit for the player's hand. That is,the first card representation dealt in each of the blackjack games 610through 626 is different and further each of the card representationsrequested corresponding to values of the sequence 604 is different foreach blackjack game. Therefore, substantially every blackjack game, evenif played concurrently with other blackjack games, will have uniqueplayer hands and house hands. Thus, not only can a large number ofasynchronous blackjack games be played simultaneously head-to-head withthe house, but also there may be a greater degree of confidence by theblackjack players that the house is not manipulating cardrepresentations in that blackjack players may substantially determinethe timing for substantially all hits in a blackjack game (for both theplayer hand and the house hand) and thereby reduce any suspicions thatthe card representations are being manipulated. Moreover, in oneembodiment, the players may request the sequence of card representationsthat were generated during the course of a game.

Note that the present invention also may include other blackjackvariations as well. In particular, referring to step 416 (FIG. 4A)again, instead of generating card representations at regular intervals,this step may simply activate the card generator module 38 so that itgenerates a substantially random card representation on demand whenevera request for a new card representation is made (e.g., steps 536 and568).

Additionally, in another blackjack variation, particularly suited fortournament blackjack where each player can be monitored, the playersplay each play for a blackjack game synchronously as blackjack istypically played with a human dealer in casinos. However, in the presentvariation, each player is provided with the identical cardrepresentations for their initial cards. Subsequently, each player handand the house (i.e., dealer) hand varies between players only whenplayers play their blackjack hands differently. That is, for eachsynchronously played blackjack game among a plurality of players, thesame sequence of card representations is available to each player andthe house blackjack playing module 42 so that, for example, the dealtcard representations in each game between one of the players and thehouse blackjack playing module are identical for players playing thesame sequence of plays throughout the game. Accordingly, as one skilledin the art will appreciate, for each blackjack game, it may be necessaryfor the card generator module 38 to maintain a predetermined sequence(or ordered collection) of card representations throughout the game sothat layers playing differently may be dealt an appropriately sequencedcard representation. Moreover, it may also be necessary for the houseblackjack dealer playing module 42 to provide sufficient controlinformation to the card generator module 38 so that the card generatormodule can respond with the appropriate card representation from thepredetermined sequence.

Another embodiment of the present invention is presented in FIGS. 6A and6B, wherein this embodiment is enhanced for presenting sponsor oradvertiser product and/or service advertising to qualified players thatadequately match a predetermined player profile such as a demographicprofile of a particular group of players. Accordingly, in FIGS. 6A and6B, there is a game/advertisement controller 604 for providingsubstantially the same functionality as the blackjack game controller 14(FIG. 3) except that games other than blackjack may also be played (suchas poker, craps, pai gow and roulette). Additionally, thegame/advertisement controller 604 also performs functions related tomatching particular advertising with the users (i.e., players) playingthe various games provided by the game/advertisement web site 308,wherein each user communicates with the web site 308 on a correspondingInternet client node 318 (alternatively interactive cable televisionnode). That is, the present FIGS. 6A and 6B present the high levelmodules for matching players having desired user characteristics (e.g.,profiles) with advertising from sponsors or advertisers requestingplayers with such user characteristics. In particular, only the playerswith such desired profiles qualify for receiving a particularadvertisement and/or promotional (i.e., advertising) from a particularsponsor or advertiser. Accordingly, it is an aspect of the presentinvention that various criteria may be used to make such a determinationas to which players (or, more generally, users) receive whichadvertising. For example, one or more of the following attributes may beused in matching users with advertising presentations:

-   -   (8.1) age,    -   (8.2) sex,    -   (8.3) financial status,    -   (8.4) location or residence,    -   (8.5) education,    -   (8.6) marital status,    -   (8.7) amount of recreational time,    -   (8.8) personal tastes and/or habits (e.g., smoker/non-smoker,        preferences for sports, movies, liquor, foods, clothes,        vacations, cars, etc.),    -   (8.9) size of household,    -   (8.10) number of children, and    -   (8.11) categorizations of users according to network        interactions such as the type of web sites accessed, the type of        advertising for which the user seeks additional information, the        risk tolerance in playing games such as blackjack.

To provide (or, match) particular users with particular advertising,data (or user information items) on each user is maintained in the formof a user profile in the user (player) database 28 which is an enhancedversion of the blackjack player registration and playing status database28 of FIG. 3. The user profiles are populated with such user relatedinformation as in (8.1) through (8.11). This information is obtainedwhen users register at the web site 308 when users respond to explicitquestions subsequently asked of them, or by monitoring the networkactivities of users. Note that user profiles may vary in length,depending on the amount of information obtained on each user. Moreover,different types of information may be obtained for different types ofusers. For example, for users having assets of more than one milliondollars, these users may be requested to enter their favorite vacationdestination location since this may be important for certainadvertisers. However, for users whose assets are less than fortythousand dollars, no such information may be obtained since theinformation would be likely irrelevant to any advertiser. Thus, in oneembodiment of the user profiles, each user profile has a variable lengthsection for storing user information items not uniform across all users.Moreover, in such an embodiment, each user information item stored inthe variable length section may be considered as a pair, wherein thefirst component of each pair indicates or references a question, userattribute, or user classification to which the second component providesan answer or value related to the first component. Thus, for example,for a particular user, an information item may provide the pair: (4,“Madrid”), wherein “4” identifies the attribute: “favorite vacationdestination location,” and “Madrid” is the value for this attribute, asone skilled in the art will understand.

Alternatively, data related to the advertisers or sponsors may reside ina different database, the advertiser database 612. Accordingly, thisdatabase stores demographic profiles which, in one embodiment, have adata structure substantially identical to the user profile datastructure. Such demographic profiles may have a variable length sectionfor specifying requested values for user information items that may beprovided in (potentially only a relatively small number of) userprofiles. In some embodiments, a demographic profile includes areference to the advertiser's or sponsor's identity, a reference to theadvertising to be presented and a variable length section of demographicitem pairs, wherein the first component of each pair has the sameinterpretation as the first component of a user information item pairand the second component of the pair specifies a desired value or rangeof values that the advertiser or sponsor prefers. Further, note that, insome embodiments, each demographic item pair may have additionalinformation associated with it such as a perceived importance of thedemographic item pair to the advertiser or sponsor. Thus, suchadditional information may be in the form of a normalized scalar valuewherein a value of one indicates that the demographic item pair is ofhighest importance whereas a value of zero indicates that thedemographic item is substantially irrelevant to the advertiser orsponsor. Accordingly, regardless of the particular embodiment of thedemographic profiles, the users' demographic profiles are used to match(i.e., select) one or more corresponding advertising presentations witha particular target group of users that, presumably, are likely topurchase the product and/or service portrayed in such advertisingpresentations. Thus, since such advertising presentations may beprovided to only users who are likely to be subsequent customers,advertisers and/or sponsors may provide to these users specificallytargeted advertising having relatively expensive promotionals such asproduct or service discounts, free samples, or a trial usage.

Accordingly, to perform the selecting or matching of users with suchdemographic profiles, for each user, the user profiles stored in theuser database 28 are compared with the demographic profiles by theadvertising selection engine 618. Note that there are numeroustechniques for performing such a comparison for selecting a group ofusers. In particular, a precise match may be required between eachdemographic item pair and a corresponding user information item pair sothat the second component of the user information item pair is (within)a desired range as specified in the corresponding demographic item pair.Alternatively, various weighting statistical techniques may be used fordetermining a “similarity” measurement when not all demographic pairsare required to precisely match a demographic profile. In oneembodiment, the similarity measurement may be provided by a statisticalanalysis module that determines the users that most closely match thecorresponding demographic profile for an advertising presentation. Thus,in order for a user to be selected, the similarity measurement betweenthe user's profile and a corresponding demographic profile may berequired to be above a predetermined threshold. Additionally, note thatthe advertising selection engine 618 may perform the matching of userswith advertising presentations as a background or non-real time processso that, for example, for each user profile in the user database 28,there is a related table identifying the advertising presentations thatare candidates for presentation to the corresponding user when, forinstance, this user communicates with the game/advertisement web site308.

Moreover, it is important to note that at least in one embodiment of thepresent invention, the advertising selection engine 618 may, for aparticular demographic profile, periodically re-evaluate user profilesin the user database 28 for reselecting the group of users to which anadvertising presentation is to be presented. Thus, users previouslyselected may be requalified or disqualified and users previouslydisqualified may be now qualified for selection due to, for example, anenhanced user profile.

Accordingly, the present invention may commence or cease transmitting acategory of advertising to a user whose user profile is enhanced withadditional information. For example, if a user indicates that he/she iscurrently considering the purchase of a new car, then advertising forpurchasing a car may be transmitted to the user. Alternatively, once thepresent invention is notified that, for example, a car has beenpurchased or that no further car advertising is are desired, then afurther enhancement of the user's profile may be performed so that nofurther advertising from the category of car advertising is transmittedto the user.

Note that the present invention provides for flexibly creating, deletingand modifying categories of advertisements by providing techniques forlinking demographic item pairs that are similarly related to a categoryrecord or object. Thus, at least the following advertising categoriesmay be provided by the present invention: sports categories (e.g.,baseball, soccer, hockey, etc.), food related categories (e.g.,restaurants, grocery stores, food items), exercise related advertising(e.g., bicycles, in-line skates, skiing), insurance related advertising(e.g., auto insurance, life insurance), political related advertising(e.g., for or against a particular political candidate), andgeographical related advertising (e.g., for users living in a particulararea such as the Denver metropolitan area). Thus, the advertisingselection engine 618 supplies the selected advertising presentations tothe HTML display engine 622 for translating this data so that it maysubsequently be included in an HTML output to the user by the commongateway interface 348.

More precisely, the selected advertisement data is joined in the HTMLdisplay engine 622 (at least in one operation of the present invention)with a token 628 representing, for example, a gaming card (for a currentuser game) that has been issued by the token generator (module) 38, thisgenerator being an enhanced version of the card generator module 38 ofFIG. 3. The generated token is supplied initially to the game playengine 632 for processing user gaming requests according to the rules ofthe game being played. That is, the game play engine 632 determines, foreach available game: (a) how each token may be “played”; (b) whoreceives the token, for example, the user or the house playing module42; and (c) the result of playing the token. Note that in oneembodiment, the token generator 38 generates tokens on request by, forexample, the house playing module 42 and/or the player optionsevaluators 34, wherein the tokens generated are appropriate to the gamebeing played. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the token generator38 may generate random tokens and the game play engine 632 transformsthe tokens into appropriate randomized values for the games offered, asone skilled in the art will appreciate. Furthermore, other embodimentsfor supplying randomized tokens to a plurality of different games arewithin the scope of the present invention. Additionally, the game playengine 632 contacts the player database 28 to maintain the status of theuser in relation to the particular game being played as well as theuser's relationship to all of the other users (if, for example, the useris involved in a tournament offered at the game/advertisement web site308). Note that, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, in oneembodiment of the game play engine 632, its internal modules provide asimilar architecture and functionality to the correspondingly labeledmodules of FIG. 3, albeit additionally, for games other than blackjack(e.g., “head-to-head” poker, craps, roulette, and pai gow).

The common gateway interface or CGI scripts 348 transfer data betweenthe HTML display engine 622 and the World Wide Web server 340 which, asone skilled in the art will understand, may be a plurality of high levelexecutable programs as discussed in the description of CGI scripts 348for FIG. 3. The World Wide Web server 340, in turn, transfers the datato the Internet TCP/IP stack 332 that interfaces with the Internet 324for transferring the data to an intended Internet client node 318 havingan appropriate World Wide Web browser 640.

The present embodiment maintains information on the status of gamesbeing played and user responses to advertising in the user database 28.Moreover, additional advertiser specific information (e.g., desireddemographic profiles, advertisements, promotionals, and informationrelated to user responses) is provided in the advertiser database 612.Accordingly, as discussed above, the demographic profiles in theadvertiser database 612 may include schemes or templates having fieldsfor designating one or more of the attributes (8.1) through (8.11).Moreover, the databases 28 and 612 may maintain records of various typesof pertinent statistics such as: (a) the advertising presentationspresented to each user; (b) the time, date and number of presentationsof a particular advertising presentation; and (c) the detected userresponses to the advertising. Thus, this information may provideadvertisers or sponsors with enhanced feedback as to the efficacy oftheir products, services and presentations thereof. Thus, by maintainingdata regarding information on: (i) each game played, (ii) the users and(iii) the advertisers, the host computer 10 may maintain accuraterecords of every type of pertinent statistics such as: alladvertisements seen by all users so that the time, date and number ofviews are available to the advertiser to confirm and verify e.g., (9.1)through (9.3) following, and additionally, an advertiser may be able toquery the user and advertiser databases 28 and 612 to obtain suchfeedback as:

-   -   (9.1) who has seen a particular advertisement;    -   (9.2) when it was seen;    -   (9.3) the number of times the advertisement was accessed:        -   (a) by any particular user;        -   (b) by all users; and    -   (9.4) the number of favorable and/or unfavorable responses.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a diagram is presented providing one embodimentof the access routes or paths users navigate in accessing the featuresof the game/advertisement web site 308. In particular, upon initiatingInternet contact with the game/advertisement web site 308, a user isfirst presented with the opening page 700 identifying the web site 308.Subsequently, the user can access the benefits and registration pages704 for viewing general information related to web site 308 and also forregistering at the web site (as is discussed in further detail below).Alternatively, the user may access one or more “Lobby” pages 708 to viewthe gaming and information exchange capabilities as, for example,provided by advertisers. Assuming the user is registered at thegame/advertisement web site 308, the user may proceed from the LOBBY 708to the game page 710, wherein a game 726 or game rules 730 can beselected for playing, via the introduction to game pages 728.Alternatively, the user may instead access one or more index pages 714having, for example, listings of organizations to which the user may beallowed to access depending on the affiliations of the user (e.g., amember of a particular membership discount store chain). Additionally,from the index page(s) 714 substantially any user may access anadvertisement or promotional provided by an advertiser on an advertiserpage(s) 722. However, it is an aspect of the present invention thatinformation related to certain promotionals provided by advertisers orsponsors are restricted. That is, such promotionals may be onlypresented to users having a demographic profile that has been determinedby the present invention to be sufficiently compatible with a desireduser profile for the advertiser or sponsor to warrant providing such apromotional. Thus, the present invention provides access to certainadvertiser promotionals only to “qualified” users who are, for example,considered likely subsequent purchasers of the advertiser's productsand/or services. Additionally, such promotionals may also be presentedto users who express an interest in a particular product or serviceadvertised. For example, users who (a) request additional orsupplemental information related to an advertised item, or (b) provide afavorable response to such advertising (by, for instance, indicating apreference for an advertised item), or (c) respond to a questionnairerelated to personal information or marketing survey information may alsobe provided with information regarding promotionals. Thus, advertisersor sponsors may offer relatively substantial or expensive promotionalsvia the present invention to such users as well. Moreover, the presentinvention may also utilize such demographic profiles to prohibit a usernot sufficiently matching such a demographic profile from gaining accessto a corresponding promotional. Accordingly, in one embodiment of thepresent invention, when the user accesses an advertiser page 722, theuser's profile (in the user database 28) is compared with thedemographic profiles in the advertiser data base 612 for determining anypromotionals that can be presented to the user.

Moreover, from the index page 714 the user may be provided with theability to link into various web sites or web site pages. That is, theuser may be provided with the ability to link into another web site orweb page at any time a link is made available (typically a hypertextlink). Additionally, note that similar links may be accessible by userswhile playing a game 726. However, these links may generally hyperlinkthe user to an advertiser page 722 within the game/advertisement website 308 so that the user may be exposed to further information and/orpresented with promotional options for an advertised item. For instance,certain advertising hyperlinks may be integrated into the presentationof plays of a game 726. Accordingly, since an aspect of the presentinvention is to repeatedly integrate different advertising presentations(and any related hyperlinks) into the play of a game 726, a user mayrepeatedly be enticed to seek out additional information about differentproducts or services by activating the related hyperlinks. Moreover, itis also an aspect of the present invention that when such hyperlinksprovide the user with access to a different web site, that at least aportion of the display of the user's Internet client node 318 maintainsa graphical format associated with the game/advertisement web site 308,and that the user may leave and return to the web site 308 without theuser being aware of accessing another web site. Moreover, by monitoringuser input related to an advertising presentation, the present inventionis able to provide feedback to an advertiser as to, for example, thenumber of times the advertising presentation is accessed by users forsuch additional information about products or services.

Also note that some advertisements (presented via advertiser pages 722or as part of a game play presentation) may be interactive with the userwherein the user may perform a transaction such as making a reservation(e.g., an airline or hotel reservation). Further, a user may be giventhe opportunity to provide positive and negative opinions or responseson, for example, various advertisements, promotionals and other relatedmatters by expressing such responses upon accessing advertisementrelated information. Thus, it is an aspect of the present invention tobe able to conduct “test marketing” in that statistically representativegroups of users may be selected for determining:

-   -   (10.1) the efficacy or appeal of one advertisement in comparison        to another advertisement for a particular advertised item;    -   (10.2) the profile of the users that are responsive to a        particular advertising presentation; and/or    -   (10.3) whether a particular group of users, for example, having        similar user profiles favorably respond to a particular        advertising presentation. For example, the present invention may        determine such a response: (a) by detecting an activation of a        hyperlink, (b) by detecting a response to questions presented,        and/or (c) by determining the length of time the advertising        presentation is displayed or visible.

Accordingly, input response data may be transmitted to thegame/advertisement web site 308 and retained for subsequent statisticalevaluation. Thus, resulting aggregate statistics can be made availableto, for example, advertisers or sponsors, thereby preserving the privacyof the users. In particular, statistics may be made available for:

-   -   (11.1) providing information about, for example, the efficacy of        certain advertising presentations (e.g., the number of positive        responses to such presentations and/or the number of advertised        items sold directly through the advertisements at the        game/advertisement web site 308);    -   (11.2) providing information related to the number and profile        of users accessing certain advertising presentations;    -   (11.3) determining measurements related to the number of        different (groups of) users to which an advertising presentation        has been presented;    -   (11.4) determining the total number of presentations of a        particular advertisement;    -   (11.5) determining the cost of advertising presentations to the        advertisers and billing the advertisers for such costs according        to, for example, at least one of: (a) the number of users to        which an advertisement is presented, (b) the number of        promotionals requested or (c) the number of network user        communications (i.e., hits) with the web site 308;    -   (11.6) determining if an advertising presentation should be        discontinued because the advertiser's cost limits have been        reached, such limits being, for example, related to a total        number of presentations of an advertising presentation. Note        that, in one embodiment, it is an aspect of the present        invention to charge an advertiser for each presentation to a        user; or    -   (11.7) determining which of an advertising presentation and a        different second advertising presentation (from the same        advertiser) is most effective when both are provided to various        selected (groups of) users, so that the advertiser or sponsor        may then have a basis for choosing the most appropriate of the        two advertising presentations in future advertising.

Additionally, it is an aspect of the present invention that it may alsomaintain statistics (and/or related information) for:

-   -   (12.1) providing “real time” game rankings of users (players)        involved in a gaming tournament provided by the        game/advertisement web site 308. Note that such rankings may be        provided to a user so that he/she may know his/her standing and        the number of players remaining in the tournament; and    -   (12.2) providing a “style of personality” of the game playing        users so that, for example, a risk tolerance of such users may        be estimated and used to determine if a particular user might be        interested in a particular product or service. Thus, such “style        of personality” statistics for a user may be stored in the        user's profile. For example, the information captured here may        include: average size of wager, average size of wager in        comparison to the total amount that could be wagered, length of        time playing in a single session, the ratio of the number of        wagers on high risk plays presented, and the skill of the        player.

Accordingly, the following aspects of the present invention arenoteworthy:

-   -   (13.1) the user may be provided with free access or reduced cost        access to other areas of the Internet 324 upon viewing the        presentations of certain organizations and/or advertisers. Note        that the ability to reduce the cost of accessing the Internet        may act as a vehicle for attracting various users;    -   (13.2) the index page 714 gives a user the opportunity to access        a particular organization (e.g., organizations 718) that the        user may belong to or any particular advertiser (e.g.,        advertisers 722) without going through any games although the        user may be required to go through the “LOBBY” page(s) 708 and        thereby be exposed to advertising and/or the opportunity to join        a game;    -   (13.3) a user may also be able to go from an initial        organization page 718 to an introductory game page 728 (e.g.,        for a game 726) but, unless authorized, may not be provided with        further access to the organization's web pages or the game;    -   (13.4) while playing a game 726, the user has the ability to        access further information related to an advertisement or        promotional being presented;    -   (13.5) during the playing of a game 726 (e.g., blackjack), the        user may be allowed to review and/or stepwise replay a previous        portion of a game 726 during a current gaming session;    -   (13.6) when in a particular organization page 718, the user may        be required to return to the index page 714 before linking into        an advertiser 722 unless a direct link has been provided for        some reason on the particular organization web page. Moreover,        the user may access the game page 710 from the index page 714        and vice versa;    -   (13.7) a user may either go directly into playing a particular        game 726 (as authorized) or to a rules section 730 for reviewing        the rules for the corresponding game 726. Note that a user may        always access the rules section 730 during the corresponding        game 726;    -   (13.8) there is a help feature for providing information such        as: a) how to do some particular action or the reason for some        action or the reason an action is blocked. For example, the        reason for an inability to access a certain web page, the reason        for an inability to make a particular game play, such as a bet,        stand or hit in the game of blackjack and/or the reason for a        particular result of a certain bet, hit, stand or other user        play in a game such as blackjack; b) for contacting a gaming        referee for resolving gaming conflicts.

Such a referee will be available to resolve any dispute. Note that theuser can notify the management operating the present invention of aproblem via, for example, notification forms displayed when anotification button is activated.

Referring now to an alternative embodiment of the present inventionpresented in FIG. 8, wherein the game/advertisement web site 308coordinates with a third party Internet access service provider 810 (orinteractive cable television provider) for providing Internet 324 (cabletelevision) access to users on a reduced cost or free basis once a userhas registered with the web server 340 (cable television provider). Thatis, the game/advertisement web site 308 contacts the user's Internetservice provider 810 and arranges to subsidize the user's Internetservice charges in return for the gaming advertisement web site 308being able to repeatedly download to the user's Internet client node 318(or alternatively, interactive cable television node), unrequestedinformation such as advertising for presentation to the user.

Accordingly, a prospective user of the present invention can sign up orregister with the game/advertisement web site 308 for reduced Internetservice fees by dialing into an Internet service provider 810 withnormal serial dialing and after gaining Internet access, subsequentlylog on to the web site 308 as a user identified by the generic useridentifier “NEW.” Each user identified by “NEW” is forced into aconnection with an enrollment or registration program so he/she canprovide information requested by the present invention that cansubsequently be used in determining which advertising to present to thisuser according to, for example, advertiser preferences. Thus, whenregistration is completed, the present embodiment of the inventiondownloads, for example, an ad viewer program 812 and a communicationsdaemon (e.g., ad receiver daemon 806) to the user's Internet client node318, wherein this daemon allows the game/advertisement web site 308 todownload to the user's Internet client node 318 unrequested informationsuch as advertising repeatedly. Accordingly, assuming the daemon 806 isinstalled, the user may access not only the gaming and advertisementservices of the web site 308, but also access substantially the entireInternet through the web site 308 at a reduced cost. Thus, whenever theend user processor 318 connects with the Internet service provider 810,the game/advertisement web site 308 is alerted by the Internet serviceprovider 810 and the DISPLAY ENGINE 622 starts up the downloaded daemon806 via Internet communications with the user's Internet client node318. Subsequently, the DISPLAY ENGINE 622 periodically sends selectedadvertising to the daemon 806. Accordingly, the daemon 806 utilizes thead viewer program 812 to coordinate the display of the advertisingpresentation.

Note that various alternative embodiments related to the architectureand functionality of FIG. 8 are also within the scope of the presentinvention. For example, instead of communicating with a plurality ofthird-party Internet service providers 806 for determining when usersregistered with the present invention are accessing the Internet viasubsidized Internet connections, the game/advertisement web site 308 mayinclude or be related to a dedicated Internet service provider 806 sothat when a user registers with the present invention, the user isprovided with a new Internet access code for the dedicated Internetservice provider 806 and the user's Internet access fees may besubsidized.

However, regardless of how the present invention subsidizes Internetaccess, the game/advertisement controller 604 is notified whenever eachsubsidized user connects to the Internet or disconnects from theInternet. Additionally, certain reliability features are included in thedaemon 806 and ad view program 812 for assuring that advertising isindeed presented to the user. For example, there may be periodictransmissions from each subsidized user's Internet client node 318 tothe web site 308 verifying that both the daemon 806 and the ad viewprogram 812 are active. Note that whenever any advertising is receivedat the user's Internet client node 318, the daemon 806 transfers theadvertising to the ad viewer program 812 which, in turn, converts thetransmitted information to a displayable format and forces the displayof the user's Internet client node 318 to present the advertisingunobscured to the user.

Additionally, note that in certain contexts the DISPLAY ENGINE 622 maytransmit a message to an Internet Service Provider 806 indicating thatno further Internet access will be subsidized due to a predeterminednumber of advertising presentation display failures.

An additional and/or alternative description of the embodiment of thepresent invention shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B is as follows: users may usethe present invention to access the INTERNET 324 on a reduced cost orfree basis, by using whatever TCP/IP SLIP/PPP package they desire andregistering with the web server 308. That is, a user can sign up orregister by dialing into a terminal server with normal serial dialingand log on as a user identified by the identifier “NEW.” User “NEW” isthen forced into a connection to an enrollment or registration programso he/she can provide information requested by the present invention.When enrollment is completed, the present invention allows the user todownload a communications daemon (e.g., ad receiver daemon 806) to theuser's Internet client node 318. The user may then install the daemon ontheir machine (Internet client node 318) and dial-up with their favoriteTCP/IP package.

However, upon accessing the host 308, the user accesses basicfunctionality of the DISPLAY ENGINE 622 that starts up the downloadeddaemon 806. The network host 308 periodically queries each active porton the terminal servers (e.g., Internet client node 318) to get the IPaddresses and then send a short message to the daemon 806 which islistening in on a specific port. The DISPLAY ENGINE 622 may also disableaccess by an end user machine 318 after a certain number of failures.

Note that the host 308 periodically sends an item to the downloadeddaemon 806 to display. The daemon then displays the message(advertisement) in a window (of the WWW browser 640) on the user'sscreen.

Referring to FIG. 9, a compensation model network site 920 is providedfor coordinating and/or controlling both the associated user-fundedservice(s) 924, and the associated prize-winning services 928. Note thatthe user-funded service(s) 924 and the prize-winning service(s) 928 maybe incorporated into (more generally, accessible via) the compensationmodel site 920, or alternatively/additionally, such service(s) 924and/or 928 may be substantially independent of the compensation modelsite 920. In particular, the service(s) 924 and/or 928 may be operatedor controlled by a different entity than the one that operates orcontrols the compensation model site 920.

The compensation model site 920 further includes (or provides access to)a registration module 932 for registering users 936 for accessing boththe user-funded service(s) 924 and the prize-winning service(s) 928. Theregistration module 932 is interactive with each user (via thecorresponding user's network station 938) to be registered via network940 communications with the network interface 944. The registrationmodule 932 interacts with each user 936 for obtaining, e.g., useridentification information, including name, address, email address, dateof birth, and credit/debit card information. Additionally, theregistration module 932 may request additional user information such asthe types of network services in which a user 936 is interested inparticipating, e.g., games of skill, games of chance, judged contests,development of user expertise in some area, etc. The registration module932 may use the obtained registration information obtained from apotential user 936 to access the user database 948 for determining ifthere is a user already registered that may identify the potential user936. Note, that data may be provided in the user information stored inthe user database 948 indicating whether there is the possibility thatthe user has registered more than once with the compensation model site920. However, generally, such user information may be only used toprevent the dispensing of a prize or winnings if it is determined that auser 936 entered the same instance of a prize-winning service undermultiple user registrations.

The compensation model site 920 further includes (or provides access to)a service related criteria satisfaction module 952 which collectsinformation on how each user 936 is progressing toward satisfyingconstraints related to the one or more user-funded services which theuser 936 has committed to fulfilling. Such service related criteria maybe specific to the one or more user-funded services 924 for which a user936 has contracted. Such user data regarding satisfaction of servicerelated criteria may be provided to the module 952 from a user-fundedservice 924 that the user 936 is able to access. However, if suchuser-funded services 924 are incorporated into (or operated by theoperator of the compensation model site 920), then at least some of thegeneric service related criteria (e.g., time interacting with auser-funded service 924) may be tabulated directly by the module 952.

The compensation model site 920 also includes (or provides access to) anadvertising selection engine 956 for providing advertising to bedisplayed at network stations 938 when user-funded services and/orprize-winning services are being accessed by the users 936 of thenetwork stations 938. For user-funded services 924 and/or prize-winningservices 928 incorporated into (or operated by the operator of thecompensation model site 920), such advertising may be directly joinedwith service presentations prior to transmission from the compensationmodel site 920 to a user network station 938. However, for user-fundedservices 924 and/or prize-winning services 928 incorporated into (oroperated by the operator of the compensation model site 920), suchadvertising may be transmitted in a manner similar third party Internetadvertising agencies such as DoubleClick®, wherein a servicetransmission received at a user network station 938 may includeinformation for generating an additional request for advertisinginformation from, e.g., the compensation model site 920. Note that theadvertising selection engine 956 may select advertising from theadvertising database 960 for presenting to users 936, and suchadvertising typically includes one or more hyperlinks that allow a user936 viewing the advertising to activate the hyperlink and therebyreceive additional advertising information from typically acorresponding advertiser's network site (e.g., Internet or website) asone skilled in the art will understand. However, such additionaladvertising information can also include alternative user interfacetechniques for presenting at least portions of the additionaladvertising information to the users 936. For example, such additionaladvertising may be transmitted (e.g., joined with service relatedinformation) so that when (if) a user 936 merely positions his/herpointing device (“mouses over” with e.g., a mouse or trackball) on orover a display of an advertisement, then additional information ispresented, and such additional information may be particularly targetedto the user; e.g., a sale of merchandise in which the user's profileindicates the user is interested. In one embodiment, there may be adesignated portion of the user's network station display in which suchadditional advertising information is presented when the user mousesover a displayed advertisement. Such a designated portion may be similarto a news stream across, e.g., top or bottom portion of the networkstation display. In one embodiment, the advertising selection engine 956attempts to match advertisements in the advertising database 960 withuser profiles stored in the user database 948. A description of such amatching operation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,702 fullyincorporated herein by reference. Thus, advertising may be targeted toselected users 936 according to their interests, needs, life styles,etc.

The compensation model site 920 also includes a manager 964 forcontrolling and/or coordinating the exchange of information between theusers 936 and the modules 924, 928, 932, 952, and 956 of thecompensation model site 920. Moreover, the manager 964 may joinadvertising to service presentations prior to transmission to a user(s)936. Thus, since each of the user-funded services 924 and theprize-winning services 928 are likely to be interact with each of theusers 936 (via their corresponding network stations 938), the manager964 may use display frame data for determining how to join selectedadvertising for display at a user's network station 938.

Regarding the user-funded service(s) 924 in more detail, thismodule/network site may include a service related criteria satisfactionmodule 968 for determining and monitoring the progress of a user 936toward satisfying the agreed to one or more criteria in order to use theuser-funded service for free (e.g., have the user's service depositrefunded, or prevent the charging of a credit/debit card of the user's).Thus, such a module 968 may monitor a user's interactions with theuser-funded service for, e.g., an increase in proficiency of the user,an amount of time the user interacts with the service, a frequency withwhich the user interacts with the service, a number of submissions tothe service (such as art, music or informational submissions, etc.).Accordingly, the module 968 may periodically provide the service relatedcriteria satisfaction module 952 with information on users' individualprogress. In particular, each module 968 provides the service relatedcriteria satisfaction module 952 with information for identifying a user936 that satisfied his/her service related criteria, and informationidentifying a user 936 that did not satisfy his/her service relatedcriteria (and for which the user should have to pay for accessing theuser-funded service). Accordingly, the user-funded service 924 providesservice related criteria satisfaction/dissatisfaction information to themanager 964 for storing in the user's data of the user database 948.

Regarding the prize-winning service(s) 928 in more detail, each suchservice 928 provides one or more contests that qualified users 936 mayenter. Each such service 928 has at least one associated user-fundedservice 924 from which users 936 that satisfy the service relatedcriteria for this associated service may elect to participate in acontest offered by the prize-winning service 928. Each contestpreferably provides prizes to winners of the contest, and such prizesare of a sufficient value to motivate users 936 to both satisfy theservice related criteria, and then win the contest. Each prize-winningservice(s) 928 obtains its eligible users 936 from the service relatedcriteria satisfaction module 952 (via the manager 964). Moreover, theresults of each contest (at least identifications of the winners, but insome embodiments, also those that did not win) are also communicated tothe module 952 via the manager.

Regarding the service related criteria satisfaction module 952, thismodule may determine whether a winner of a prize-winning contest iseligible to collect his/her prize. In particular, the module 952 maydetermine whether a winning user 936 has entered the contest more than alegitimate number of times.

Regarding the user database 948, the database may include the followingfields for each user 936:

-   -   (a) User 936 identification, including user legal name, a        display name, user address, email address, date of birth,        credit/debit card information.    -   (b) Identification of each user-funded service agreement to        which the user is obligated to satisfy certain criteria or pay        for accessing the corresponding user-funded service 928, such        identification including the amount that may be required to be        paid for the service, and the amount (if any) already paid.    -   (c) For each user-funded service agreement to which the user is        obligated, the amount (if any) paid/pledged by a sponsor (e.g.,        an advertiser) to allow the user 936 to access the user-funded        service.    -   (d) For each user-funded service which the user is accessing, an        indication of his/her progress toward satisfying the        corresponding service related criteria.    -   (e) Information identifying the prizes that have been won by the        user 936.

Regarding the services database 972, this database is accessed by theprize-winning service(s) 928 (via the manager 964) for addinginformation on prize-winning contests when they become available forparticipation by users 936, and for deleting information onprize-winning contests when such contests are no longer available to beentered by users 936. Moreover, this database may include information onthe prizes of contests, e.g., how/who provided a prize for a contest,the value of the prize, the number of users 936 in the contest, theminimum and/or maximum number of users 936 for the contest etc.

Regarding the advertising database 960, this database may includeadvertiser information as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,702 fullyincorporated herein by reference for a corresponding advertiserdatabase.

The following pseudo-code may be performed by an embodiment of thecompensation model 920 (together with one or more correspondinguser-funded service(s) 924 and/or one or more correspondingprize-winning service(s) 928):

Receive user registration information via a network (e.g., the Internetor an intranet) site for obtaining access to one or more services,wherein (i) each user agrees to be bound to the rules for the service(s)offered; (ii) the user provides identification information to certifyhis/her identity; (iii) the user provides financial information forcompensating the operator of the site in the event that the user doesnot appropriately satisfy certain predetermined service relatedcriteria. If one or more advertisers contract to sponsor users by payingany potential fees, allow advertisers to select the users for which theycan assume the obligation for paying any potential user fees. If a useris selected by an advertiser for sponsoring, then present to the userthe advertiser's willingness to sponsor the user, and let the userselect from among one or more advertisers for being sponsored, whereinadvertising by the selected advertiser sponsor(s) is also to bepresented to the user when one of the one or more services is accessedby the user. When the user accesses (interacts with) one of theservices,    Determine advertising to present to the user, wherein suchadvertising    is determined based on: (i) whether the user wassponsored by an    advertiser(s), (ii) other advertisers who havecontracted to have    advertising presented to users (e.g., via a thirdparty advertising entity    such as Doubleclick or Google). Note, userprofiling can be    performed for determining advertisements to bepresented. In    particular, the following user information may used fordetermining    advertisements:    (a) Since the user is accessing aparticular service(s) and has gone to the trouble registering for theservice(s), the user is likely interested in advertisements related tothe service(s) that he/she can access via such registration;    (b) Thegeneral geographical location of the user is available in many contexts,and in particular, for the Internet, wherein such geographical locationinformation can locate the user to a resolution of approximatelycorresponding to zip code. One such service providing such locationenabling information is available from Quova at www.quova.com, and thefollowing U.S. Pat. Nos 7,072,963 and 6,684,250 are fully incorporatedherein by reference;    (c) If authorized/permitted, e.g., by the user,read the user's Internet cookie file for identifying other network sitesvisited by the user, and in particular, comparing various versions ofthe user's cookie file for determining subject matter that may befrequently accessed by the user, and thus using a correspondence betweensubject matter of advertisements and the network sites visited by theuser;    (d) Providing the user with, e.g., browser plug-in softwareproviding a capability to: (i) manually terminate a currently presentedadvertisement, e.g., the user may provided with a graphical button thatmay be clicked on so that the user can activate the plug-in to terminatea particular advertisement from being presented (and/or re-presented),or (ii) “select an alternative” advertising category, wherein the useris allowed to select advertising categories from which advertising is tobe received. Thus, if the user receives a beverage advertisement, theuser may select alternative advertisement related to automobiles;    (e)Monitoring how the user interacts with the service(s) for which he/sheregistered.    Monitor the user's progress toward satisfying the agreedto service    related criteria; and    If the user satisfies the servicerelated criteria then {       Inform the user of such satisfaction;      Identify the user as being eligible for entering one or more (if           any) instances of prize-winning services;       Store dataidentifying that the user has satisfied the service          relatedcriteria;       If the user has paid upfront for any portion of theservice then {          Determine how to refund/reimburse the user forhis               payment (e.g., credit card refund, providing              the payment for a different service, etc.);         Refund/reimburse the user;       }       Else { /* The user hasnot paid for any portion of the service */          If a sponsor(s) paidfor (is obligated to pay for) at least             a portion of theuser's service fee then {                Inform each sponsoringadvertiser of                   such satisfaction of the service                  related criteria;                Store data indicatingthat the sponsor                   does not have to pay for the                  service;             }            If the user isobligated to pay for the service then             Store data indicatingthat the user does not have               to pay for the service;        }          If the current service being accessed can becontinued          to be accessed by the user then {             Ifthere is a next more advanced level of the             service then {               Ask the user if he/she wishes to advance               to the next level of the service;                Advancethe user if requested to do so,                otherwise do not;            }       }       Else /* the user has not satisfied theservice related criteria */          Periodically (e.g., every week)inform the user of            his/her unsatisfied service relatedcriteria;    Monitor any time constraints within which the servicerelated criteria    must be satisfied; e.g.,     If a time constrainthas expired, then {       Inform the user of such expiration, and thathe/she has not         satisfied all the service related constraints;      If the user has not satisfied the service related criteria then {         Identify the user as being ineligible for entering one or           more (if any) instances of prize-winning services           corresponding to the user-funded service for which           the service related criteria are applicable;          Storedata indicating that the user has not satisfied the             servicerelated criteria;          If the user has paid upfront for any portionof the             service then             Release the payment for useby the operator of                  the site;          Else { /* Theuser has not paid for any portion of the             service */            If a sponsor(s) paid for (is obligated to pay for)               at least a portion of the user's service fee               then {                   Inform each sponsoring                     advertiser of such non-                     satisfaction of the service                     related criteria;                   Store dataindicating that the                      sponsor must pay for the                     user's access to the user-                     funded service;                }               Ifthe user is obligated to pay for the                 service then               Charge the user's credit card for any                 remaining portion of the service fee                 still remaining unpaid;            }       } For eachprize-winning service instance available DO {    Determine users thatare eligible to access the prize-winning service    instance, this stepincluding:      For each user whose eligibility is known, e.g., due theuser satisfying       the related criteria for an associated user-fundedservice instance       DO       Notify the user that he/she can enterthe prize-winning         instance;     For each request from user'srequesting entry into the prize-winning      instance DO {       If theuser is known to have satisfied the service related criteria         foran associated instance of a user-funded service instance         then         Enter the user into the prize-winning service instance;      Else {         If other users can enter then          Determineand store the user's qualification information            for enteringthe prize-winning instance;       }      }    Conduct the prize-winningservice instance. }

Email notification may be used to notify a user of where the user standsin satisfying service related criteria for an instance of a user-fundedservice (e.g., a game), and/or for an instance of a prize-winningservice instance. Moreover, such notification may be transmitted to theuser's phone or cell phone. Additionally, an Internet feed and/orinstant message may be used to also allow a user to access theuser-funded and/or prize-winning service (e.g., blackjack, poker, and/orchess). For example, a user might play a game while in a motor vehicle,and might even receive prizes or some type of “comps” for playing. Voicerecognition may also be used to allow the playing of games in anefficient manner, e.g., in a motor vehicle or other environment wherethe user's communication device available for receiving speech/voicecommands (e.g., a mobile phone). For instance, if a user is playingblackjack while in a motor vehicle, words and/or phrases such as “hitme” or “fire” may be used, since it is well within the state of voicerecognition technology to readily recognize such simple phrases.

For a service (e.g., a game) being offered on a network, such as theInternet, wherein the interactions are essentially verbal by the user,the network site providing the service, in one embodiment, may userspeech recognition processing and may also use text analysis processing.Text analysis processing is for recognizing a textual conversion ofspoken dialogue for determining the actions requesting to be performedby a user. The text analysis functionality of the network sitepreferably includes identifying words and/or phrases and/or sentencesthat instruct the network site (e.g., a website) that then takespredetermined actions, and in performing such actions, the network siteprovides feedback to the user verifying the action(s) performed, eitherprior to or immediately after the action(s) is to be performed. For auser to play a game substantially verbally, game plays may be made bythe user via spoken text or speech and such speech is translated into astream of text transmitted to the network site, the network site thenperforms text analysis for determining a next game configurationrequested by the user. Upon determining the likely user request, thenetwork site then preferably acknowledges to the user the action(s) tobe performed, and requests confirmation from the user to perform theaction (e.g., the game play).

In one embodiment the network site may instruct the user regarding thewords, phrases and or sentences which the network site recognizes forperforming actions such as game plays (or other actions for otherservices). Alternatively/additionally, the user may be able to useconventional speech without the network site providing predeterminedspeech patterns that the user must provide for the network site toperform particular actions. Accordingly, the network site processes userinput and attempts to determine standard actions that are typicallyspoken to perform the service. For example, in blackjack when playing agame substantially verbally, the user may use the following phraseswithout being taught or without these phrases being specified by ablackjack playing website: “hit, stand, stay, double down, split,surrender” whereas in poker, the words “raise, ante, fold, see you” maybe standard.

The present method and system for receiving compensation for networkservices provides numerous benefits over prior art business models forreceiving compensation, including the following benefits.

-   -   (a) The present compensation model provides incentives for users        to increase their skills at the service (e.g., playing a game,        designing a landscape, teaching the user to fly an airplane,        teaching the user how to invest in the stock market, etc.).    -   (b) It is believed that even small fees will cause users to        disproportionately increase their interest in using the service        since users have a invested interest in the service, and can be        get their investment back if they enhance their skills.        Accordingly, the present compensation model pays users to become        more skilled, and it is believed that users will recognize the        benefits of the present compensation model for them, and thus        develop greater loyalty to the network site using the present        compensation model.    -   (c) It is believed that users will tolerate advertising being        presented even though they have paid for the service since there        is the expectation that the service is ultimately free when they        satisfy certain service related criteria (e.g., reach a        particular proficiency level) for them to not be charged and/or        their activation fee or deposit to be refunded. Thus, the        operator of the network site can obtain advertising revenue and        user revenues for the same service.    -   (d) By requiring users to be responsible for paying an        activation fee or deposit (which may be as low as, e.g., $1 or        less), users must identify themselves, e.g., via a credit or        debit card or some other financial transaction instrument.        Accordingly, for a service such as a game tournament with the        subsequent opportunity to win substantial prizes, duplicate        entries by a user may be detected. That is, in using a credit or        debit card, a user is required to input his/her name, address,        and credit card number. Accordingly, a user having the same last        name, and the same address as another user, may be asked for        additional information for distinguishing the two users such as        whether the user is male or female, and/or date of birth.        Moreover, all users may be requested to declare that they have        only entered such a tournament once, and when a user wins a        prize, the present compensation model may perform additional        checks for further assuring that the user has not entered        multiple times. Accordingly, the use of such financial        transaction information for providing greater integrity and        fairness to the service (particularly, competitive services such        as games or contests) is believed to be an important benefit of        the present compensation model. Moreover, perceptions of        integrity can be extremely important for network sites and the        services they provide since the inherent lack of personal        contact between communicating parties is not particularly        conducive to assuming a service is impartially or fairly        operated.        -   In an alternative embodiment, some services may not require            rigidly monitoring or assuring a single entry per user to a            particular service (or instance thereof). Accordingly, in            such circumstances, the activation fee or deposit may be            increased to a level that generally inhibits a user from            activating the service under multiple identifications or            aliases since both a separate activation fee or deposit            would be required for such user identification or alias.    -   (e) The use of proficiency levels can add integrity or fairness        when users are in competition with one another. For example,        before a user enters such a service multiple times for        substantially increases his/her odds of winning (free) prizes,        the user would have to demonstrate a particular proficiency        level under each of the user's aliases. Thus, the demonstration        of proficiency levels may be, by itself, a deterrent to a user        entering such a service multiple times.    -   (f) The present compensation model can provide additional        revenue to the operator of a network site since at least some        users, if not most of the users, may not satisfy certain service        related criteria (e.g., reach the predetermined proficiency        level), and accordingly, the operator retains the users'        activation fees or deposits.    -   (g) The service related criteria (e.g., proficiency level) can        be adjusted and/or tailored to the needs of the operator of the        network site. For example, an operator of a network site that        derives (or intends to derive) its revenues from advertising may        set the service related criteria (e.g., proficiency level) for        the service, e.g., a game (or games), at a sufficiently high        level so that users activating the service are exposed to a        large number of ads while attempting to satisfy the service        related criteria (e.g., reach the proficiency level). Moreover,        if the service related criteria includes, e.g., a length of time        the service must be activated/utilized, and/or a predetermined        number of service instances activated (e.g., a number of game        instances played), then the operator has greater assurance that        the advertisement expectations of the operators advertisers will        be satisfied. Furthermore, if the service related criteria is        sufficiently high such that many of the users do not satisfy the        service related criteria, then the site operator retains the        users' activation fee or deposit.        -   Alternatively, if the operator wishes to derive revenue from            offering coupons of advertisers, and/or inexpensive items of            advertisers, then the service related criteria may be made            low enough so that most users satisfy the service related            criteria, and subsequently the users may be given the option            of selecting one or more coupons and/or sponsor items in            addition to, or in lieu of all or a portion of their            activation fee or deposit. Moreover, since users satisfying            the service related criteria will be provided with the            opportunity to win additional, e.g., more substantial,            prizes for free, users are likely to tolerate subsequent            advertising during instances of the service for which such            additional prizes may be won. Additionally, user selection            of particular coupons and/or items as part of their refund            (and/or in addition to their refund) provides additional            information about the users, and such information can be            associated with the users' identities for presenting to such            users additional advertising, coupons, and/or sponsor            products/services that is likely to be of interest to the            user.

If a fee is to be returned or refunded, instead of the fee beingreturned immediately, such fee may also be transferred by either theplayer or the site to another game, website, or another entity as agreedor as set forth in a predetermined agreement an operator of a networksite providing (at least a portion) of the services for the compensationmodel.

In one embodiment, the user activation fee or deposit may be reduced ifthe user is identified by one or more other users as a user thatmotivated them to register for a user-funded service.

The advertising necessary to inform potential users of a network sitethat utilizes the present compensation model may be spread by word ofmouth, and/or various social networking sites. However, to facilitateawareness of such network sites, ads for such network sites may beplaced upon disposable mats. In particular, such mats may provided indressing rooms and other locations where people are concerned abouttheir feet touching a floor due to concerns for cleanliness or the fearof contracting a foot disease/infection. Such mats may have a waterrepelling surface on at least one of the sides and a germicide providedon the surface on the side that the user is to place his or her feet.Advertising may be placed upon at least one of the mat sides. The matsmay be precut to a size large enough for a person's feet to avoidtouching a floor's surface or the mat may be dispensed by using an“endless” roll—or a roll from which many mats may be dispensed with theaid of perforations at various locations in the roll so that advertisingmats may be used in said dressing rooms. Alternatively, such foot matsmay be available in a plurality of sizes (e.g., similar to shoe sizes).Moreover, such foot mats may be secured to a person's foot via strapsthat adhesively adhere to one another or to the mat. The mats may beprovided at little or no cost. Embodiments of such mats may be also usedfor “place mats” upon which food may be placed. The advertising mats mayalso be made of a material and size that allows them to adhere to shirtsor other material such as bed sheets. Additionally, such advertising maybe provided in the form of stencils for placement upon bedding orwearing apparel, wherein such bedding or apparel may be provided atlittle or no cost to the public and/or a third party.

The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. Further, the description isnot intended to limit the invention to the form disclosed herein.Consequently, variation and modification commiserate with the aboveteachings, within the skill and knowledge of the relevant art, arewithin the scope of the present invention. The embodiment describedhereinabove is further intended to explain the best mode presently knownof practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art toutilize the invention as such, or in other embodiments, and with thevarious modifications required by their particular application or usesof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of advertising on the Internet, wherein:for each of one or more users accessing the Internet in a correspondingInternet connection for the user, the following occur during saidcorresponding Internet connection: a request, from the user, istransmitted on the Internet, via a user node, for contacting a serviceproviding presence of the Internet, said service providing presenceprovides access to information for an interactive service via anactivation of the service, wherein at least a portion of each display atthe user node for the interactive service is controlled by apredetermined computational machine; wherein said request has associatedtherewith an Internet address that identifies the service providingpresence, and wherein said interactive service is interactive on theInternet with the user; the user node receives, via the serviceproviding presence, said information for said interactive service;wherein two or more display presentations from the information arepresented on at least a portion of a display of the user node, whereinat least two of said display presentations are successively displayed,and there is a user input to one of said at least two displaypresentations, P1 wherein for the user input, there is a transmission onthe Internet to which a latter one of said at least two displaypresentations, P2 is a response; concurrently displayed with a displayof said one of the display presentations, P1 at the user node is adisplay of a first one or more advertising presentations for providinginformation related to one or more of a product and a service, whereinsaid first one or more advertising presentations are received, via theInternet, in response to Internet transmissions by the service providingpresence, and displayed on at least a portion of said display during thepresentation of the two or more display presentations at the user node;one or more additional advertising presentations are presented at theuser node following the first one or more advertising presentations,each said additional advertising presentation for providing informationrelated to one of a product and a service, wherein at least one of saidadditional advertising presentations is: (a) received at the user node,via the Internet, in response to Internet transmissions by the serviceproviding presence during the presentation of the two or more displaypresentations, (b) displayed on at least a portion of said displaywithout the user providing an input: (i) for which a consequenceincludes the presenting of said additional advertising presentations,and (ii) for which said first advertising presentations are not aconsequence, and (c) provides Internet addressing information forobtaining additional information about one or more purchasable productsor purchasable services, comprising: transmitting, via the Internet,data related to communications between: (a) the interactive service, and(b) the user; wherein the transmitting step results in first informationbeing stored on the user node so that after the first information isstored, and during one or more different activations of the interactiveservice, the user node outputs a responsive Internet transmissionindicative of the first information being present on the user node;activating one or more programmatic elements, at the service providingpresence, for combining: (1) the information for the interactiveservice, and (2) advertising related information for use in presentingone of: (i) the first advertising presentations, and (ii) the additionaladvertising presentations; and transmitting a resulting combination of(1) and (2) on the Internet to the user.